Ketoprofen in Oral Surgery Pain: A Review

Abstract

Ketoprofen is a new peripherally acting analgesic and the most recently introduced nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug in the United States with indication for management of nonarthritic pain. Three 6‐hour double‐blind, single‐dose, placebo‐controlled studies in which patients who had undergone dental impaction surgery took ketoprofen or a comparator drug are reviewed. In the first study, ketoprofen 25, 50, and 100 mg was compared with aspirin 650 mg and placebo in 153 patients. In comparison with aspirin, significant (P < 0.001) differences favoring ketoprofen at each dose level were found for all measures of analgesic efficacy. For the combined ketoprofen groups, 60% of the patients rated treatment as very good or excellent, compared with 16% in the aspirin group. The second study compared ketoprofen 25, 50, and 100 mg with codeine 90 mg and placebo in 129 patients. Ketoprofen appeared to have a more rapid onset, higher peak effect, and longer duration of pain relief than codeine. At least 70% of patients in each of the ketoprofen groups rated the test medication as very good or excellent, compared with only 7% of the patients in the codeine group. The third study compared ketoprofen 25 and 100 mg with ibuprofen 400 mg and placebo in 161 patients. Ketoprofen 100 mg had a faster onset of effect, the highest peak effect, and the longest duration of action over the 6‐hour evaluation. Ketoprofen treatment was not associated with any unusual or serious side effects in any of the three studies. These data suggest that ketoprofen is a safe and effective analgesic with a rapid onset and at least a 6‐hour duration of action.