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O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M A Y 2 0 1 5
IV Ibuprofen Before Surgery Speeds Recovery
Study: It pays to modulate the body's stress response to surgery.
A
dministering IV ibuprofen
(Caldolor) before surgery
can pay for itself many
times over — hastening recovery,
increasing patient satisfaction, and
reducing pain and the need for opi-
oids. Pre-op administration of the
NSAID may even improve the way
patients bounce back cognitively.
Preempting post-op pain
Those were among our findings in a
recent study at the Rutgers University New Jersey School of
Medicine. Using a diverse population of 55 patients undergoing
laparoscopic cholecystectomies at 3 tertiary academic hospitals, we
demonstrated the benefit of administering anti-inflammatories before
surgery instead of waiting until after, when the body's stress response
to surgery has already kicked in. We suspect other anti-inflammatories
and analgesics may have the same positive effect. In fact, our team
plans to look at ketorolac and acetaminophen in the days ahead.
In the randomized, double-blind ibuprofen study, "Preoperative
Administration of IV Ibuprofen Improves Quality of Recovery After
Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy" (osmag.net/SQW6pu), we gave 28
patients 800 mg of ibuprofen and 27 patients a placebo-saline before
they were induced with general anesthesia. To compare responses, we
used the 40-item Quality of Recovery questionnaire, a 9-item Modified
Fatigue Severity Scale and a 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale, each
of which we assessed 4 times — before surgery, in the PACU, 1 day
A N E S T H E S I A A L E R T
Vanny Le, MD
z TIMING IS EVERYTHING The best time to give
patients IV ibuprofen is before surgery, not after.
