Efficacy and safety of ibuprofen in children with musculoskeletal injuries: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the analgesic efficacy and safety of ibuprofen in children with musculoskeletal injuries. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of science, and the Cochrane Central register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were systematically searched to identify eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared ibuprofen with other analgesics for pain relief in children with musculoskeletal injuries. Primary outcomes included change of visual analog scale (VAS) scores from baseline to post-medication, the proportion of patients achieving adequate analgesia, and the proportion of patients requiring additional analgesia. Secondary outcome was the incidence of adverse effects. Data analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: Five RCTs involving 1034 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared to the control group, change of VAS scores was greater in ibuprofen group at 60 min (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.28; 95% confidence intervals [CI], 0 to 0.57; P = .05), 90 min (SMD = 0.38; 95% CI, 0.17 to 0.59; P = .0005), and 120 min (SMD = 0.4; 95% CI, 0.23 to 0.57; P < .00001) after treatment. No difference was found in the change of VAS scores at 30 min (SMD = 0.07; 95% CI, -0.08 to 0.22; P = .36) after treatment. The proportion of patients who received adequate analgesia was higher in the ibuprofen group (risk ratios [RR] = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.20 to 1.56; P < .00001). The proportion of patients that required additional analgesia was lower in the ibuprofen group (RR = 0.7; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.92; P = .01). The incidence of total adverse effects was lower in the ibuprofen group (RR = 0.59; 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.79; P = .0002). CONCLUSIONS: Ibuprofen provides a better pain relief with a lower incidence of adverse effects in children with musculoskeletal injuries as compared to other analgesics. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021231975.