Ibuprofen as good as nacortic painkiller for kids' fracture pain

August 18, 6:50 AMNorfolk Health Care ExaminerEd Lamb

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Doctors do not need to prescribe Tylenol 3 or another acetaminophen-codeine combination painkiller to children with broken bones. Prescription-strength ibuprofen, researchers have found, works just as well to manage pain and causes fewer side effects.

Wisconisin physicians followed the treatment of 336 children who received either acetaminophen-codeine or ibuprofen and discovered that ibuprofen users experienced half as many side effects as acetaminophen-codeine users. Children on both therapies reported the same amount of pain relief. The full results of the study will appear in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

Orthopedist Amy Drendel, who led the study team, said in a press release, "Our study calls into question the practice of using acetaminophen with codeine as a rescue medicine if ibuprofen fails to treat fracture pain for children."

Earlier this summer, a group of independent advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked the agency to order the withdrawal of other painkillers that combine acetaminophen and narcotics. The advisory panel noted that acetaminophen and hydrocone (e.g., Vicodin) and acetaminohen and oxycodone (e.g., Percocet) had liver and other risks that outweigh their benefits.