In this multiple-dose, double-blind study 100 patients with moderate, severe or very severe pain following orthopaedic surgery were randomly assigned to receive ketorolac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug with potent analgesic properties (10 mg), or the standard regimen of Ketogan® (a combination product containing the narcotic analgesic, ketobemidone, plus a spasmolytic agent) by intramuscular injection every 1 – 6 h as needed for pain. When patients were able to tolerate an oral diet and were expected to respond to oral analgesic medication, based on overall pain sensitivity, they were switched to oral doses of the same medication every 4 – 6 h as needed. A maximum of four daily doses of medication was allowed for up to 10 days. The severity of pain was scored on a five-point scale and was recorded before the first intramuscular dose, at fixed time points therafter for up to 6 h and at the end of each day. Both treatments were effective immediately after the first dose and during the subsequent multiple-dose phase. There were no statistically significant differences between ketorolac and Ketogan®. The results show that 10-mg doses of ketorolac in intramuscular injections followed by 10-mg doses of oral ketorolac are as effective as Ketogan® for the treatment of pain following orthopaedic surgery. Ketorolac appears to be better tolerated than Ketogan® since significantly fewer patients reported adverse events ( P = 0.004) when taking ketorolac.
