Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most regularly used analgesic drugs. Nonetheless, all NSAIDs are associated with adverse effects including gastrointestinal and cardiovascular risk. There is a need for a medication which provides adequate analgesia with no adverse events. Therefore, in the current research, the authors showed that dexketoprofen trometamol provide a rapid onset of action, is well tolerated, and has an opioid-sparing effect when used as a multimodal regimen in the acute pain management.  

Dexketoprofen trometamol is an improved non-selective COX inhibitor with accelerated onset of action that is possible as both parenteral and oral formulations. This narrative review proposed to estimate the Dexketoprofen trometamol effectiveness and safety/tolerability in acute pain states by utilising the best published scientific evidence.

Embase, Cochrane Library, and Medline were searched using the terms like  “acute pain”, “Dexketoprofen”, “Parecoxib”,  “Celecoxib”, “Etoricoxib”, and “randomised controlled trials”.

Dexketoprofen trometamol single-dose gives adequate analgesia in the treatment of acute pain such as acute musculoskeletal disorders, postoperative pain, renal colic along with the reduction of opioid consumption in the postoperative context. The medication is well tolerated and showed a rapid onset of action. Direct comparison between Dexketoprofen trometamol and COX-2 inhibitors was absent; although tolerability and efficacy of a single Dexketoprofen trometamol seem to be compatible with that seen with Etoricoxib, Parecoxib and Celecoxib for acute pain.

Dexketoprofen trometamol exhibits an equivalent analgesic efficiency to COX-2 inhibitors when used to manage acute pain, well tolerated, has a rapid onset of action, and has an opioid-sparing effect when applied as part of a multimodal regimen in the acute pain context.