Ibuprofen Best Pain Reliever for Kids

The first head-to-head study among painkillers for kids has found that ibuprofen works best. According to researchers, ibuprofen was superior to acetaminophen and codeine in relieving the pain from broken bones or serious sprains suffered by children brought to the emergency room.

Sold generically and under brand names such as Advil and Motrin, ibuprofen in a single dose relieved pain within an hour in 52 of 100 injured children.

The study compared the pain relieving ability in children among ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and codeine.

Ibuprofen was also able to ease pain more than the two other medications, according to the study that was published in Pediatrics. Pediatrics is the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The study, which included a total of 300 children aged 6-17, compared the three painkillers administrated orally.

The children received either a 10-milligram dose of ibuprofen, 15 milligrams of acetaminophen, or 1 milligram of codeine.

According to the results, 40 out of 100 injured children who took codeine, and 36 out of 100 children who took acetaminophen reported pain relief.

One hundred patients were randomly assigned regular doses of the medications. The children were then asked to point out their pain levels on a 10 centimeter-long scale at the time of ingestion and again an hour later.

"That's a very standard, fairly well-accepted and validated way to measure pain in kids," Clark said.

Ibuprofen scored highest, with a drop of 24 millimeters among the children rating their pain reduction after an hour. The figure was double the pain reduction reported among acetaminophen and codeine.

In addition, more children who took ibuprofen reported what is considered adequate pain relief, or a score below 30 millimeters, after one hour.

Choosing pain relievers for their kids can be confusing for parents because ibuprofen and acetaminophen, such as Tylenol, both work against fevers. Codeine also works against fever but since it's a mild narcotic it's only available by prescription.

The study should ease the dilemma among parents according to Clark.

Since ibuprofen only gave pain relieve to slightly over half of the children, however, it may not be enough by itself.

"Numerous studies have shown that analgesia is not adequately provided to both pediatric and adult (hospital emergency department) patients," wrote Clark.

The study was supported by a research grant from Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute.

In previous studies, ibuprofen has also been shown to relieve pain better than acetaminophen for tonsillitis and migraines.

Sources:
Reuters
CNN
Canada.com