Pre-emptive effects of ibuprofen syrup and lidocaine infiltration on postoperative analgesia in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy

We aimed to compare the effects of lidocaine and adrenaline with ibuprofen syrup (administered before adenotonsillectomy) on post-operative analgesia and initiation of oral feeding. One group of 20 children received 100 g/5 ml ibuprofen suspension (10 mg/kg) 1 h before anaesthesia; bleeding control was provided by pre-incisional administration of 1:200000 adrenaline solution (10 ml). The same amount of 0.5% lidocaine solution plus 1:200000 adrenaline was applied pre-incisionally in a similar manner in a second group of 20 children. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the duration of operation and anaesthesia, post-operative pain scores, paracetamol requirements, times to initiation of liquid and solid food intake, or adverse side-effects. We conclude that ibuprofen syrup applied pre-incisionally and local infiltration with lidocaine are equally effective for post-operative analgesia.