Double-blind comparison of the analgesic potency of ciramadol, codeine and placebo against postsurgical pain in ambulant patients

Abstract

The efficacy and safety of ciramadol (Cir) as an analgesic in relieving moderate to severe pain after oral surgery has been studied in 79 patients randomly assigned to receive single oral doses of Cir 15, 30 or 60 mg, codeine 60 mg or placebo. During the 6-hour observation period, the three ciramadol-treated groups indicated greater pain relief than the codeine 60 mg or placebo groups. In general, Cir 60 mg was significantly more effective than codeine 60 mg, and all doses of Cir were superior to placebo. The proportion of patients in each Cir group reporting adverse experiences was significantly higher than in either the placebo or codeine groups. The experimental system proved very effective in demonstrating analgesic potency of Cir. The very high incidence of side-effects in the three ciramadol-treated groups makes it unfit for further clinical use in ambulant patients.