Effect of cyclooxygenase inhibitors in postoperative ileus: an experimental study

The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of various cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors (namely, indomethacin [a nonselective COX inhibitor], nimesulide [a partially selective COX inhibitor] and celecoxib [a highly selective COX inhibitor]) on postoperative ileus in rats. Equianalgesic doses of the three drugs were determined previously by formalin-induced hyperalgesia. Three comparative doses of the drugs were taken. After overnight fasting, a standardized laparotomy was performed on the rats. Bowel motility was determined by the charcoal meal test. The distance traveled by the charcoal meal was expressed as a percentage of the total length of the small intestine. The animals were pretreated intraperitoneally with either indomethacin (2.5, 5.0 and 10 mg/kg), nimesulide (10.0, 20.0 and 40 mg/kg), celecoxib (10.0, 20.0 and 40 mg/kg) or vehicle 1 h prior to the experiment. The lowest doses at which an increase in postoperative bowel motility occurred were 10 mg/kg of indomethacin and 20 mg/kg for both nimesulide and celecoxib. For equianalgesic doses it was noted that celecoxib was more effective than nimesulide or indomethacin in increasing postoperative bowel motility (52.15 +/- 1.08, 55.11 +/- 0.87 and 60.65 +/- 1.22 at the highest doses of indomethacin, nimesulide and celecoxib, respectively).