A comparison of intramuscular tenoxicam with intramuscular morphine for pain relief following tonsillectomy in children

A double blind trial was conducted to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of intramuscular tenoxicam for pain relief following tonsillectomy in children. Fifty children, aged 3–10 years, were randomly allocated to receive intramuscular tenoxicam 0.75 mg·kg−1 or intramuscular morphine sulphate 0.2 mg·kg−1 after induction of anaesthesia. Although the tenoxicam group required significantly more postoperative morphine (mean 57.8 μg·kg−1 compared with 26.9 μg·kg−1, P=0.025), the total morphine dose was significantly reduced after tenoxicam (57.8 μg·kg−1 compared with 226.9 ug·kg−1, P<0.0001). There was no difference between the quality of analgesia after discharge from recovery. The incidence of postoperative vomiting was significantly reduced after tenoxicam (20%) compared with morphine (71%).