Ibuprofen given pre- and post-operatively for the relief of pain

155 patients undergoing surgical removal of lower third molars took part in a parallel group, randomised double-blind study to assess the analgesic effect of single pre-operative doses of ibuprofen (400 mg), codeine phosphate (30 mg), a combination of ibuprofen/codeine (400 mg/30 mg), placebo and post-operative single doses of the same combination or diflunisal (250 mg). Patients receiving the combination or ibuprofen pre-operatively took significantly longer between surgery completion and needing the post-operative study treatment than patients receiving codeine phosphate or placebo. At 1 1/2-2 h after post-operative administration, patients receiving the combination post-operatively reported significantly greater decreases in pain severity than those receiving diflunisal. Patients taking the combination post-operatively experienced significantly better pain relief than patients taking diflunisal at 1 and 2 h, but the reverse was true at 5 h. Side-effects reported were mild with no significant differences between the different treatment groups.