Intramuscular tramadol versus ketorolac in the treatment of pain following nasal surgery: A controlled multicenter trial

The postoperative analgesic effect and therapeutic tolerability of tramadol administered by intramuscular (IM) injection were compared with those of ketorolac, A total of 77 patients who had undergone surgery of the nose or paranasal sinuses were treated (39 received tramadol, 38 received ketorolac), The mean age of the patients was 31.0 +/- 10.5 years; the mean body weight was 69.2 +/- 13.3 kg, Four university-based ear, nose, and throat (ENT) institutes took part in this multicenter, open-label, randomized, controlled trial. Tramadol (100 mg/2-mL ampules) was administered as necessary up to a maximum of 400 mg/d, and ketorolac (30 mg/1-mL ampules) was given as needed up to 90 mg/d, The trial lasted 3 days. Both drugs provided rapid and constant control of pain after administration of the first ampule and subsequently. Pain relief and quality of sleep (compared with each previous day) showed similar improvement, and the safety profile was reassuring, with only two adverse events (moderate sweating, 1; slight sweating and nausea, 1) among patients taking tramadol and one adverse event (pain and skin reaction at the injection site) among those taking ketorolac. IM tramadol was shown to be effective in the treatment of pain following nasal surgery, and it was tolerable and easy to handle. Although these results are encouraging, additional randomized, controlled clinical trials should be performed in a larger study population.