Preoperative oral rofecoxib does not decrease postoperative pain or morphine consumption in patients after radical prostatectomy: a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the analgesic efficacy of the rofecoxib po before radical prostatectomy. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: Teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Anesthetic management was standardized. Patients received either a 50-mg rofecoxib capsule or a placebo capsule po 1 hour before induction of anesthesia. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patient-generated 10-cm visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain were assessed at 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 24 hours after surgery. Morphine consumption was recorded from a patient-controlled analgesia device at the same time. A patient-generated overall pain relief score was obtained at 24 hours after surgery. We were unable to detect any differences between study groups with respect to postoperative morphine consumption, VAS score, or overall pain relief score. CONCLUSIONS: When rofecoxib is used po in maximum recommended doses before surgery, it does not provide significant analgesia that results in reduction in pain scores or analgesic requirements for patients after radical prostatectomy.