Ibuprofen v paracetamol for short term treatment of pain or fever in children*
| Outcomes | Number of trials (n) | Weighted RR point estimate (95% CI)† |
|---|---|---|
| *RR = relative risk, CI = confidence interval. | ||
| †For pain, RRs>1 indicate a greater likelihood of achieving >50% maximum pain relief with ibuprofen than with paracetamol. For harm, RRs>1 indicate a greater likelihood of harm with ibuprofen than with paracetamol. | ||
| ‡Not significant. | ||
| §An effect size of 0 represents equal effectiveness of the drugs for reducing fever; effect sizes >0 represent superiority of ibuprofen over paracetamol. | ||
| Pain relief at 2 hours | 3 (186) | 1.14 (0.82 to 1.58)‡ |
| Pain relief at 4 hours | 3 (186) | 1.11 (0.89 to 1.38)‡ |
| Minor harm at median 48 hours | 17 (1820) | 0.96 (0.68 to 1.36)‡ |
| Major harm at median 48 hours | 17 (1813) | 1.00 (0.55 to 1.82)‡ |
| Weighted effect size point estimate (CI)§ | ||
| Fever reduction at 2 hours | 10 (1078) | 0.19 (0.05 to 0.33) |
| Fever reduction at 4 hours | 10 (1078) | 0.31 (0.19 to 0.44) |
| Fever reduction at 6 hours | 10 (1078) | 0.33 (0.19 to 0.47) |
