NSAIDS in surgery
Last reviewed 01/2018
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used as an adjunct to opioid analgesia, especially after minor surgery. In combination, the quantity of opioid required for satisfactory analgesia is reduced.
NSAIDS have the advantages that they are free from opioid-like side effects, and that they are not controlled drugs. However, the relative efficacies of the group members are not known, and they have serious side effects of their own, e.g. renal failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, anaphylaxis.