OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to compare the effects of diclofenac and piritramide in acute postoperative pain after hernioplasty. BACKGROUND: In the treatment of moderate acute postoperative pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids play the major role. The data on safety and effect of analgesia based on opioid and non-opioid drugs are still a controversial topic. METHODS: We compared the first-line treatment effects of diclofenac and piritramide in 105 patients after hernioplasty in a retrospective manner. The subsequent therapy combined piritramide with diclofenac. We evaluated the intensity of pain and its relief using a visual analogue scale (VAS). We also evaluated the necessity of application of other analgesics. RESULTS: One hour after the application of the first analgesic dose, we observed complete pain relief in 39.5% of patients treated with piritramide and in 19.4% of patients treated with diclofenac (chi2=5.17; p=0.02). After the use of piritramide, the pain relief (3.84 +/- 1.27 mm) was significantly higher than after diclofenac (3.34 +/- 0.77 mm). Another injection was needed in 76% and 54% of patients subjected to first-line treatment based on diclofenac and piritramide, respectively. CONCLUSION: We observed that the first-line analgesic treatment based on piritramide was more effective when compared to that based on diclofenac (Tab. 3, Ref. 3). Full Text in free PDF www.bmj.sk.

3rd Department of Surgery of the 1st Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol Praha Czech Republic