Ibuprofen belongs to a class of drugs- NSAIDs and Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is a non-opioid (or non-narcotic) analgesic and antipyretic. In this randomized study, Ibuprofen proved to be more analgesic than Paracetamol, and the total opioid consumption was also less in this group.

Septorhinoplasty is implemented along with septoplasty and rhinoplasty procedures and is marked by critical postoperative pain. This study assesses the preemptive impact of intravenous (IV) Ibuprofen and IV Paracetamol on pain scores and opioid intake following the open septorhinoplasty.

A total of 150 participants who went through the elective open septorhinoplasty were selected for the analysis and randomised into three groups. Group Ibuprofen (Group I) involved 800 mg IV Ibuprofen in 100 ml saline; Group Control (Group C) comprised 100 ml saline solution, and Group Paracetamol (Group P) obtained 1000 mg IV Paracetamol in 100 ml solution before the operation. Postoperative analgesia was obtained by opioid intake via patient-controlled analgesia. Patients were evaluated for postoperative opioid intake, side effects, Visual analogue scores (VASs), and additional analgesic requirements.

Group I and P exhibited statistically lower VAS scores at all time points as compared to group C. Amidst group P and I, group P showed higher VAS at 1st and 6th hours. Opioid intake noticed be highest in Group C at all time periods. As compared to group P, the group I exhibited significantly lower total opioid intake at the time intervals of 0-6 and 6-12. 

The findings showed that Ibuprofen has more analgesic impact as compared to Paracetamol at first 12 h, but there is a non-inferiority within the groups after the first 12 h.