Efficacy of suppository analgesia in postabortion pain reduction

Purpose: Termination of pregnancy is a painful procedure. Currently, there are no sufficient data regarding the best mode to reduce this pain. The aim of the study was to evaluate postabortion pain levels and to examine the analgesic effect of three different generic types of suppositories provided at the end of the surgical procedure prior to awakening from general anesthesia. Method: Two hundred seventeen women were randomly assigned to four groups: indomethacin (100 mg), paracetamol (1000 mg), tramadol (100 mg), and control group with no suppository treatment. Pain levels were evaluated by VAS five times - 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after abortion. The number of doses of rescue analgesia with dipyrone (I g po) was recorded. Results: There was a significant difference in pain levels between the four groups during the 2-h study (p <.05). Indomethacin always had the lowest VAS rank. Rescue analgesia was requested by 22/55 women in the control group, 10155 in the tramadol group, 7/54 in the paracetamol group and 5153 in the indomethacin group (chi(2)=19.0, p <.0001). Conclusion: The application of a single suppository of an analgesic drug, especially indomethacin, is a simple, inexpensive and safe mode to reduce postabortion pain. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.