A comparison of a new analgesic,nefopam hydrochloride,with morphine sulphate,pentazocine and pethidine hydrochloride in post-operative pain

Summary

The analgesic potency of nefopam was compared to that of morphine, pentazocine and pethidine, double-blind in 200 patients with post-operative pain. Each drug was given as a single intramuscular injecton on the first post-operative day. Pain relief was measured both with a 0 to 3 graded pain scale and a 0 to 10 visual analogue scale and expressed as pain intensity, pain intensity difference and sum of pain intensity difference. The degree and time course of pain relief was similar for all four treatments with maximum analgesia 90 minutes after injection. Side-effects were reported by 58% of patients on nefopam compared to 68% on morphine, 82% on pentazocine and 74% on pethidine, the commonest side-effect being sleepiness. These results suggest that nefopam is a sufficiently potent analgesic agent to control post-operative pain, with a relatively low incidence of side-effects.