Prophylactic
diclofenac (
Voltaren) in
postoperative pain was studied in 60 surgical patients who underwent either abdominal (30 patients) or superficial (30 patients) surgery. During anaesthesia, no
analgesic or
narcotic drugs were given. Immediately after surgery, an
intravenous infusion of 100 ml
normal saline or saline with 75 mg of
diclofenac was administered over 10 minutes under double-blind randomized conditions. The 2-hour study period was started when the patients complained of
pain or half an hour after the end of anaesthesia. For
pain relief during the study period, 4 mg of
oxycodone was repeatedly given on demand. The initial mean
pain intensity values were significantly higher after abdominal surgery than after superficial surgery but there were no statistically significant differences between
diclofenac and placebo groups. The mean amount of
oxycodone required after
diclofenac was not significantly lower than after placebo (10.9 +/- 1.9 mg vs. 13.1 +/- 1.4 mg after abdominal surgery and 3.2 +/- 0.8 mg vs. 4.0 +/- 1.2 mg after superficial surgery). The
pain relief obtained with
oxycodone was similar after
diclofenac and placebo. According to the present results, prophylactic use of
diclofenac does not significantly reduce the need for
narcotic analgesics in the immediate postoperative phase in general surgery.