Efficacy of intravenous perioperative parecoxib administration in the surgical fixation of unstable ankle fracture: a prospective, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the efficacy of perioperative intravenous (IV) non-opioid medication administration in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of perioperative parecoxib in patients with unstable ankle fractures who were scheduled to undergo surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this double-blinded, prospective, randomized controlled trial, 40 patients who underwent open reduction and internal fixation for unstable ankle fractures were randomly allocated to the parecoxib group (parecoxib 40 mg IV 30 min before surgery and then 40 mg IV every 12 h for the initial 48 h post-operatively [n=20]) or the placebo group (saline [n=20]). The efficacy of pain control was assessed according to the total morphine used. Pain intensity (at rest/ambulation) and pain relief (at rest/ambulation) were assessed using the verbal numerical rating score (VNRS) and verbal numerical rating percentage (VNRP), respectively. Subjective rating of medication was performed by each patient. All outcomes were recorded by trained personnel who were blinded to the patient group allocation. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 49.3 +/- 18.0 years. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of pain intensity, pain relief, patients' subjective ratings of the medication at both the preoperative and postoperative periods, total quantity of morphine used, side effects, and acute complications of surgery (p>0.05). The mean length of hospital stay tended to be shorter in the parecoxib group than in the placebo group (6 vs. 9.9 days: p=0.183). CONCLUSIONS: Although the perioperative administration of parecoxib did not provide significantly better postoperative pain control or reduce the opioid requirement relative to placebo, its use led to a shorter hospital stay.

Automated summary

Although perioperative administration of parecoxib did not significantly improve postoperative pain control or reduce opioid requirements compared to placebo, its use was associated with a shorter hospital stay.