Comparison of ketoprofen, ibuprofen, and placebo in a dental surgery pain model

Ketoprofen, 25 and 100 mg, ibuprofen, 400 mg, and placebo were compared in a single-blind, double-blind, randomized analgesic study that included 161 patients with moderate to severe postsurgical dental impaction pain. The patients evaluated the study medication over a 6-hour period. By traditional measures of analgesia, 25 mg ketoprofen was as effective as 400 mg ibuprofen, and 100 mg ketoprofen was significantly (p < 0.05) more effective than 400 mg ibuprofen in total amount of pain relief, sum of observations with pain half gone, and time to remedication. The results of this study indicate that there may be clinically relevant differences in analgesic efficacy among the nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs of the propionic acid derivative class.