Analgesic Efficacy of Ketoprofen in Postpartum, General Surgery, and Chronic Cancer Pain
Analgesic Efficacy of Ketoprofen in Postpartum, General Surgery, and Chronic Cancer Pain
Analgesic Efficacy of Ketoprofen in Postpartum, General Surgery, and Chronic Cancer Pain
This article summarizes the results of five single-dose clinical studies of three pain
models: postpartum, postoperative, and chronic cancer pain. The efficacy of ketoprofen
(in varying doses from 25 to 225 mg) was compared with one of the following standards:
aspirin (650 mg), codeine (90 mg), acetaminophen (650 mg) plus codeine (60 mg), and
parenteral morphine (5 mg and 10 mg). The results indicate that ketoprofen in doses as
low as 25 mg has analgesic properties significantly superior to those of placebo. For the
treatment of postpartum pain, ketoprofen was significantly more effective than aspirin
650 mg but not significantly different from codeine 90 mg. Ketoprofen doses of 50 mg and
150 mg also provided analgesia superior to that with acetaminophen 650 mg plus co-
deine 60 mg for the management of moderate to severe postoperative pain. Moreover,
oral doses of ketoprofen (75 and 225 mg) provided analgesia similar to that obtained with
5 and 10 mg parenteral doses of morphine. Adverse effects related to ketoprofen were
relatively minor and infrequent. Ketoprofen was recently approved for use as an analge-
sic for treatment of mild to moderate pain in total daily doses up to 300 mg; the recom-
mended initial dose is 25 to 50 mg every 6 to B hours as necessary.
Summary of Studies
Pain Type* Sample Size Dose
Study (% of pts) (Sex) Treatment (mg)
TABLE II
Postpartum Pain: Mean Values for Summary Measures of Analgesic Efficacy
Study 1 Study 2
Ketoprofen Ketoprofen Ketoprofen Codeine Ketoprofen Ketoprofen Ketoprofen Aspirin
Placebo 25 mg 50 mg 100 mg 90 mg Placebo 25 mg 50 mg 100mg 650mg
Variables (n = 30) (n = 29) (n = 31) (n = 31) (n = 29) (n = 31) (n = 31) (n = 32) (n = 32) (n = 30)
SPID
4 hr 2.9 5.8* 5.2* 5.6* 6.0* 2.7 5.0* 5.7*# 5.9*# 4.2*
6 hr 3.9 9.0* 7.8* 8.5* 8.4* 4.2 7.1 * 8.1*# 8.1*# 5.9
TOPAR
4 hr 5.3 10.5* 9.4* 10.0* 10.2* 4.2 8.1 * 8.7*# 9.3*# 6.4
6 hr 7.3 16.1 * 13.8* 15.2* 14.5* 6.4 11.6* 12.4*# 12.9*# 9.0
Patient's global
assessments
Overall
improvement"
Rating of 4.6 5.9* 5.9* 6.1 * 5.8* 5.0 5.7* 5.9* 6.0*# 5.3
medication b 1.2 2.3* 2.1 * 2.3* 2.1 * 1.5 2.3*# 2.2* 2.2*# 1.7
• Significantly (P :s; 0.05) different from placebo. ment; based on rating scale of 1 = very much worse to 7 = very much better.
# Significantly (P :s; 0.05) different from aspirin 650 mg. b The higher the value the better the patient's rating of the study medication;
• The higher the value the better the patient's evaluation of overall improve· based on a rating scale of 0 = no help to 3 = excellent.
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2.5 2.5
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Figure 2. Time-effect curve for pain relief: Study 2-Postpartum Figure 3. Time-effect curve for pain relief: Study 3-Postoperative
pain. to Mean pain relief scores for each study group were derived pain. Mean pain relief scores for each study group were derived
from patient responses which had been scored on a five-point from patient responses which had been scored on a five-point
scale: 0 = no relief. 1 = a little relief. 2 = some relief. 3 = a lot of scale: 0 = no relief. 1 = a little relief. 2 = some relief. 3 =, a lot of
relief. and 4 = complete relief.. - - •• placebo (n = 31); D - - - D. relief. and 4 = complete relief. • - - •• placebo (n = 31);
ketoprofen 25 mg (n = 31); X - - - - - X. ketoprofen 50 mg (n = 32); X - - - - - X. ketoprofen 50 mg (n = 32); .......... ketoprofen 150 mg
.......... ketoprofen 100 mg (n = 32); t:. - - t:.. aspirin 650 mg (n (n = 31); D - - - D. acetaminophen 650 mg + codeine 60 mg (n
= 30). = 25).
TABLE III
SPID
4 hr 3.2 5.3* 5.5* 4.4 1.7 4.1 * 4.5* 3.5*
6 hr 5.0 8.1 * 8.5* 5.9 2.2 5.6* 6.2*# 4.1
% SPID
6 hr 29.4 48.8*# 50.3*# 34.5 NA NA NA NA
TOPAR
4 hr 6.3 9.3* 9.5* 8.6* 3.7 8.4* 8.6* 7.0*
6 hr 9.5 14.6* 14.8* 12.2 4.6 11.4*# 12.2*# 8.1
Patient's global
assessments
Overall
improvement"
Rating of 4.7 5.3*# 5.4*# 4.9* 3.6 5.0* 5.3*# 4.4*
medication b 1.5 2.1* 2.2* 1.9 1.0 2.0* 1.9* 1.7*
@ NA = not available. ment; based on rating scale of 1 = very much worse to 7 = very much better.
• Significantly (P < 0.05) different from placebo. b The higher the value the better the patient's rating of the study medication;
# Signficantly (P < 0.05) different from acetaminophen plus codeine. based on a rating scale of 0 = no help to 3 = excellent.
• The higher the value the better the patient's evaluation of overall improve-
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vided significantly (P < 0.05) better analgesia than frequent in the acetaminophen plus codeine group
acetaminophen plus codeine for 6-hour SPID and than in the ketoprofen 150 mg group. One patient in
TOPAR scores and the patient's overall improve- the ketoprofen 50 mg group complained of angina
ment. The:t:esults of these two studies indicate that pectoris, which was determined by the investigators
the analgesic;:: efficacy of ketoprofen at both doses is not to be treatment-related.
equal to, and for some assessments greater than, that
of acetaminophen plus codeine for the management Chronic Cancer Pain
of moderate to severe postoperative pain.
There were no statistically significant treatment Study 5 differed from the other four studies reported
differences in the number of patients reporting ad- here in that it was designed to determine the po-
verse reactions in Study 3. Three patients (2%) re- tency of oral ketoprofen (75 mg and 225 mg) relative
ported adverse effects in Study 3: two patients who to parenteral morphine (5 mg and 10 mg) (Sunshine
received ketoprofen 50 mg and one patient who re- et aI, unpublished data). As the study was double- .
ceived the acetaminophen plus codeine combina- blind, each patient received three capsules and an
tion. One ketoprofen-treated patient complairied of injection. The study was terminated because of poor .
sedation and lethargy and the second complained of patient enrollment. The mean values for the sum-
chest pains that were believed to be unrelated to the mary and global measures of analgesic efficacy are
study medication. The patient who received acet- shown in Table IV. The time-effect curve for pain
aminophen plus codeine reported dizziness and eu- relief is shown in Figure 5.
phoria. On the basis of the time-effect curve, morphine 5
A total of 37 (23%) patients reported side effects in mg was the least effective treatment (Figure 5). At
Study 4; eight patients in the ketoprofen 150 mg the half-hour and 1 hour evaluations, morphine 10
group, 14 in the ketoprofen 50 mg group, 11 in the mg had the highest mean pain relief scores, which
acetaminophen plus codeine group, and 4 patients in plateaued and diminished in effect after 2 hours.
the placebo group. Significantly (P < 0.05) more pa- Ketoprofen 225 mg had mean pain relief scores
tients in the acetaminophen plus codeine group and around the same level as 5 mg of morphine at the
the ketoprofen 50 mg group had adverse effects as half-hour and 1 hour evaluations but had the high-
compared to the placebo group. Most symptoms est mean pain relief scores from hours 2 through 6.
were associated with the gastrointestinal and ner- Ketoprofen 75 mg was less effective than the higher
vous systems; gastrointestinal system symptoms dose but had a similar time-effect curve. Multiple
were approximately evenly distributed among the pairwise comparisons based on the Tukey A test
active treatIIient groups, whereas the nervous sys- showed that ketoprofen 225 mg was significantly (P
tem side effects were significantly (P < 0.05) more < 0.05) superior to morphine 5 mg from hour 3
TABLE IV
Chronic Cancer Pain: Mean Values for Summary Measures of Analgesic Efficacy (Study 5)
Morphine 5 mg i.m. Morphine 10 mg i.m. Ketoprofen 75 mg p.o. Ketoprofen 225 mg p.o.
Variables (n = 29) (n = 30) (n = 32) (n = 32)
SPID
4 hr 4.8 6.1 6.3 7.0
6 hr 6.8 8.9 9.5 10.7
TOPAR
4 hr 8.7 10.6 10.9 11.7
6 hr 12.3 15.3 16.1 17.5
Patient's global
assessments
Overall improvement" 4.5 5.1 5.4 5.6
Rating of medication b 1.5 2.0 2.0 2.1
• The higher the value the better the patient's evaluation of overall improve- b The higher the value the better the patient's rating of the study medication;
ment; based on rating scale of 1 = very much worse to 7 = very much better. a
based on a rating scale of = no help to 3 = excellent.
DISCUSSION
analgesic, significantly (P < 0.05) superior to placebo
(Table V). In addition, the 50 and 100 mg doses of
The results of five studies in three different pain ketoprofen were significantly (P < 0.05) more effec-
models showed ketoprofen overall to be an effective tive than aspirin 650 mg in one postpartum study,
TABLE V
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