COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF DICLOFENAC SODIUM VERSUS COMBINATION OF PARACETAMOL AND IBUPROFEN FOR ACUTE POSTOPERATIVE TONSILLECTOMY PAIN: A RANDOMISED CONTROL STUDY

Pain is a significant hindrance to the rehabilitation of a patient following tonsillectomy. This necessitates the need for adequate pain control to avoid poor oral intake, delayed recovery and prolonged hospitalization. The objective of the study is to compare the analgesic effect of Diclofenac sodium alone and combination of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen in controlling post tonsillectomy pain.The study also compares improvement in post tonsillectomy pain in patients above and below 15 years of age andto determine the duration of analgesic required. This is a Randomized Control study conducted in a tertiary care center. The study which spanned over a period of 6 months included 68 post tonsillectomy patientsin the age group of 5 to 30 years who were randomly allocated into two groups. One group was subjected to oral Diclofenac sodium while the other received a combination of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen. The study concluded that combining two analgesics for pain improvement in post tonsillectomy patients appears to be more effective, requires lesser dosage of individual drugs and causes lesser side effects than single drug therapy. With appropriate dosage of analgesics, post- tonsillectomy morbidity can be significantly reduced, reducing the duration of therapy in all age groups