COMPARISON OF ANALGESIC EFFECT OF INTRAVENOUS PARACETAMOL VS INTRAVENOUS KETOROLAC ON POST-OPERATIVE PAIN AFTER ABDOMINAL SURGERY

Objective: To compare the analgesic effect of intravenous paracetamol and intravenous ketorolac on post-operative pain after abdominal surgery. Study Design: Quasi experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Surgical department, Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Rawalpindi, from Nov 2018 to May 2019. Methodology: Two hundred patients undergoing abdominal surgery at a surgical unit of Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi were recruited in our study. Patients were divided into two equal groups via lottery method. Group A had the patients which received the intravenous paracetamol while group B had the patients which received the intravenous ketorolac after the surgery. Pain was assessed in both the groups via visual analogue scale (VAS) score. Results: One hundred twenty six patients were males and 74 were females. Mean age of the patients was 39.63 ± 2.545 years. Most common type of surgery was laparoscopic cholecystectomy 61 (30.5%) followed by the hernioplasty 50 (25%). Mean visual analogue scale score in the patients in group A was 4.12 ± 1.121 while in group B was 4.16 ± 1.124. Conclusion: Efficacy of intravenous paracetamol was comparable to that of intravenous ketorolac in our target population. Surgeons should keep in mind that increasing the strength and amount of the analgesic will only increase the cost for the patient and add no benefit in pain reduction