Comparison of lysine acetylsalicylate and oxycodone in postoperative pain following upper abdominal surgery

Intravenous lysine acetylsalicylate (LAS) and oxycodone were compared under double-blind conditions for analgesia after upper abdominal surgery in sixty patients anaesthetized by N2O--O2--halothane--relaxant technique. Either 125 mg/10 kg or 250 mg/10 kg LAS or 0.4 mg/10 kg or 0.8 mg/10 kg oxycodone was randomly administered when the patients complained of moderate or severe postoperative pain. When 30 min had elapsed following the injection of the test drug, oxycodone was given in 4 mg increments on demand until adequate pain relief was achieved. At 15 min postdrug, the lower dose of LAS offered significantly less pain relief than all other test drugs. At 30 min, the effect of the higher dose of LAS reached almost the analgesic level of the higher dose of oxycodone but only the latter provided significantly (P less than 0.05) better analgesia than the low dose of LAS. About 50% less additional narcotic supplementation was demanded following higher doses of both drugs when compared to lower ones. LAS 250 mg/10 kg (c. 1.8 g/70 kg) was found approximately equipotent to oxycodone 0.8 mg/10 kg (c. 6 mg/70 kg). However, LAS had a slower onset of action. Sweating seemed to occur more frequently after LAS than oxycodone, but significant changes in respiratory rate or sedation following LAS-oxycodone combinations when compared to oxycodone alone were not noted. The results show that for analgesia after upper abdominal surgery, 1.8 g of LAS may be substituted for about 6 mg of oxycodone.