Antipyretic effect of ibuprofen and dipyrone in febrile children

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate temperature changes in febrile children that received a single oral dose of ibuprofen (10 mg/kg), the dose recommended for high fever, or dipyrone (15 mg/kg), the dose recommended by the manufacturer, at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 hours after administration.

Methods: This open-label randomized (1:1) controlled clinical tried enrolled 80 febrile boys and girls aged 6 months to 8 years with baseline axillary temperatures of 38.0 to 40.3 °C. The children were divided into two groups: high fever (> 39.1 °C) and low-grade fever (38.0 to 39.1 °C). The antipyretic effect was analyzed according to discontinuity, safety, response to treatment, tolerability and therapeutic efficacy.

Results: Of the 80 children, 31 remained febrile during the 8 hours (38.8%), but 100% had a temperature decrease in the first 2 hours after the administration of either medication. In the high fever group, the temperature fell in 11 children treated with ibuprofen up to the 5th hour (100.00%) and in the 11 that received dipyrone, up to the third hour (100.00%). The difference in antipyretic efficacy of ibuprofen in the high fever group was statistically significant in the 3rd and 4th hours, and in the low-grade fever group, in the 3rd hour after medication.

Conclusions: A single oral dose of ibuprofen has a greater antipyretic efficacy than dipyrone, particularly when the fever is high. Both drugs were well tolerated and safe in the short term.