Single‐dose intravenous diclofenac for short‐term pain after | Figure 1

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Single‐dose intravenous diclofenac for short‐term pain after surgery in adults

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Cochrane Review; 8 studies (1756 participants). The studies were similar in their design, but were carried out in different surgeries (dental, mixed minor surgeries, abdominal, & orthopedic). The dose of intravenous diclofenac varied.

Bottom line

There is some evidence that intravenous diclofenac is effective for reducing pain after surgery in adults, but it is less clear how safe it is in this setting.

Key findings

Around twice as many participants had at least half the maximum possible pain relief when they received diclofenac vs. those who received placebo. When diclofenac was compared with another NSAID, similar numbers of participants had at least half the maximum possible pain relief. Other assessments, e.g. how quickly & how many participants needed rescue medication, & how many participants withdrew from a study, also usually showed that intravenous diclofenac was better than placebo & similar to other NSAIDs.

There was insufficient information in the studies to assess side effects & serious side effects, but the rate at which they occurred appeared to be similar among all treatments. Very few people dropped out of the studies because of side effects.

The quality of the evidence was generally low due to issues with the design of many of the studies, & low overall numbers of people enrolled. Further research may have an important impact on the findings

Read the full Cochrane Review here

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