Single dose oral lumiracoxib for postoperative pain

Lumiracoxib is a novel selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor. COX-2 inhibitors have been developed to avoid COX-1 related gastrointestinal (GI) problems. Lumiracoxib has analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity comparable with traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (tNSAIDs) in the management of post-operative pain, but with the advantage of better GI tolerability.

To review the analgesic efficacy, duration of analgesia, and adverse effects of a single oral dose of lumiracoxib for moderate to severe postoperative pain in adults and compare it with established analgesics.

We searched CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2006), MEDLINE (1966 to March 2007), EMBASE (1974 to 2006), and PubMed (February 2007).

Single oral dose, randomised placebo controlled trials of lumiracoxib, in acute postoperative pain, in adult patients.

Trials were quality scored and data extracted by two review authors independently. Summed pain relief (TOTPAR) was extracted and converted into dichotomous information yielding the number of patients with at least 50% pain relief. These derived results were used to calculate the relative benefit (RB) and number-needed-to-treat (NNT) for one patient to achieve at least 50% pain relief.

Three studies (737 patients) met the inclusion criteria. In total 211 patients were treated with lumiracoxib 400 mg, 51 with lumiracoxib 100 mg, and 161 with placebo. Active comparators were naproxen 500 mg (60 patients), rofecoxib 50 mg (102), celecoxib 200 mg (101), and ibuprofen 400 mg (51). One hundred patients (48%) given lumiracoxib 400 mg had at least 50% pain relief over six hours, compared with 17 (11%) given placebo; RB 4.8 (95% CI 2.9 to 7.9), NNT 2.7 (2.2 to 3.5). Weighted median time to use of rescue medication was 7.4 hours for lumiracoxib 400 mg and 1.8 hours for placebo. Patient global assessment at study endpoint was rated as "excellent" by 71 patients (34%) given lumiracoxib 400 mg and 5 (3%) given placebo. Median time to onset of analgesia was shorter for lumiracoxib 400 mg (0.6 to 1.5 hours) than placebo (>12 hours), and use of rescue medication within 12 hours occurred in 64 patients (58%) given lumiracoxib 400 mg and 100 (91%) given placebo. Adverse events reported were generally mild to moderate in severity, with one serious adverse event reported in a patient given placebo.

Lumiracoxib 400 mg given as a single oral dose, is an effective analgesic for acute postoperative pain.