Determination of Preemptive Analgesic Efficacy of Celecoxib in Patients Undergoing Major Lower Limb Orthopaedic Surgery

Objective: To evaluate effect of oral Celecoxib 100 mg in terms of mean VAS as preemptive analgesic agent in orthopaedic patients undergoing major lower limb surgery by comparing with placebo. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial. Place and Duration: The study was conducted between April 2008 to October2008 in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad. Materials and Methods: In this study, 80 patients undergoing major lower limb surgeries were divided in two equal groups; 40 patients in group A received Celecoxib 100 mg 40 minutes before surgery and while 40 patients in group B received placebo 30 minutes before surgery. Comparison of two groups was done for mean visual analogue score (VAS) on first postoperative day at 6 am. T-test was applied for statistical difference (p-value 0.05 was taken as significant). Results: The mean VAS group A was 4.24 ± 1.097 and in group B was 8.13 ± 1.017. p-value was 0.000 (statistically significant) Conclusion: The Celecoxib, as preemptive can significantly reduce the postoperative pain score as compared to placebo analgesic in major lower limb orthopaedic surgeries.