METHODS: Patients were randomized to receive
ibuprofen arginate 200 or 400 mg,
ibuprofen 200 or 400 mg, or placebo in this multicenter, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group trial. Patients were observed for 6 hours after administration of a single dose of study medication. A repeated-dose, open-label phase followed.
Pain intensity and
pain relief were measured using traditional verbal descriptor scales; onset of
analgesia was assessed using 2 stopwatches to measure the time to achievement of specific
pain relief criteria.
RESULTS: A total of 498 patients (219 men, 279 women; mean age, 21.5 years) participated in this study. Baseline
pain was moderate in 388 patients (78%) and severe in 110 patients (22%). Meaningful
pain relief was reached after a median of 29 and 28 minutes with
ibuprofen arginate 200 and 400 mg, respectively, and after 52 and 44 minutes with
ibuprofen 200 and 400 mg, respectively (all, P < 0.05). The percentages of patients who achieved meaningful
pain relief within the first hour
after treatment were 77.6% and 83.7% for
ibuprofen arginate 200 and 400 mg, respectively, 61.0% and 63.0% for
ibuprofen 200 and 400 mg, respectively, and 39.8% for placebo. The differences between
ibuprofen arginate and
ibuprofen were statistically significant (both doses, P < 0.05). Significantly greater numbers of patients achieved meaningful
pain relief with
ibuprofen arginate 400 mg compared with placebo from 20 minutes through 6 hours and with
ibuprofen arginate 200 mg from 30 minutes through 6 hours (P < 0.05). Compared with placebo, a greater number of patients achieved meaningful
pain relief with
ibuprofen 400 mg from 45 minutes through 6 hours; with
ibuprofen 200 mg. the corresponding interval was from I through 6 hours. After the first hour,
pain reduction was similar for the similar doses of the 2
ibuprofen preparations. Median remedication times with both doses of
ibuprofen arginate were similar to those with both doses of
ibuprofen, ranging from 4.0 to 5.2 hours. Adverse-event profiles were similar between the 2 active medications.
CONCLUSIONS:
Ibuprofen arginate was effective in this population of patients experiencing moderate to severe
pain after surgical extraction of > or = 1 impacted third molar, with 16 to 24 minutes' faster time to meaningful
pain relief than with
ibuprofen. The 2 formulations had similar tolerability profiles.