Assessment of the efficacy and safety of paracetamol, ibuprofen and nimesulide in children with upper respiratory tract infections

• Published in: European journal of clinical pharmacology Vol. 55; no. 9; pp. 615 - 618
• Main Authors: ULUKOL, B, KÖKSAL, Y, CIN, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer 01.11.1999; Berlin Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acetaminophen - therapeutic use; Acute Disease; Adolescent; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic - therapeutic use; Analysis of Variance; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Body Temperature; Child; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Colds; Drug therapy; Female; Fever - drug therapy; Humans; Ibuprofen - therapeutic use; Male; Medical sciences; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Respiratory system; Respiratory Tract Infections - drug therapy; Sulfonamides - therapeutic use; Treatment Outcome; Human; Upper respiratory tract; Respiratory disease; Body temperature; Fever; Infection; Chemotherapy; Paracetamol; Treatment; Ibuprofen; Antipyretic; Arylpropionic acid derivatives; Nimesulide; Child; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0031-6970; 1432-1041
• DOI: 10.1007/s002280050681

The aim of this study was to assess and compare the efficacy and tolerability of paracetamol, ibuprofen and nimesulide in children with upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). Ninety children with acute URTIs and fever were enrolled to the study. The patients were allocated to three groups. The first group was treated with paracetamol 10 mg/kg thrice daily; the second group with ibuprofen 10 mg/kg thrice daily; and the third group received nimesulide 2.5 mg/kg twice daily for 5 days. The anti-pyretic activity of nimesulide was greater and more rapid than either paracetamol or ibuprofen. The number of patients with normal temperature was significantly greater in the first 2 days for the nimesulide group. The improvement in cough for the paracetamol group was better than the others. The results of this study demonstrated that the anti-pyretic effectiveness of nimesulide is better than paracetamol and ibuprofen in febrile children with URTIs. However, new studies in larger paediatric populations are required to explore the anti-inflammatory effect of nimesulide.