Efficacy and safety of controlled-release oxycodone and standard therapies for postoperative pain after knee or hip replacement.

Background: Standard therapy (ST) for postoperative pain after knee and hip replacement at the Hamilton Health Sciences Henderson Hospital consists of epidural analgesia or patient-controlled analgesia for the first 48 hours, followed by oral or parenteral analgesics, or both, on an as-needed basis. We compared the efficacy and safety of scheduled controlled-release (CR) oxycodone hydrochloride (OxyContin; Purdue Pharma, Pickering, Ont.) and ST for postoperative pain 48 hours after primary knee and hip replacement.

Controlled-release codeine is equivalent to acetaminophen plus codeine for post-cholecystectomy analgesia.

Purpose: Following ambulatory surgery, long-acting analgesics may provide advantages over short-acting analgesics. This study compared controlled-release codeine (CC) and acetaminophen plus codeine (A/C; 300 mg/30 mg) for pain control in the 48-hr period following laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Methods: Eligible patients were randomized to CC or A/C in a double-blind, double-dummy parallel group study.