Ibuprofen versus steroids: risk and benefit, efficacy and safety

Abstract

In the last few years we have observed an upward trend in the employment of ibuprofen as anti-inflammatory and antipyretic therapy. Therefore the pediatrician has often a precious option in the anti-inflammatory and antipyretic treatment in children instead of using steroids and paracetamol. In clinical practice ibuprofen can be used in the treatment of headache, toothache, otalgy, dysmenorrhea, neuralgia, arthralgia, myalgia, abdominal pain and fever: it is the first choice for these common diseases. However, the use of steroids is a routine, even if non-corticosteroid anti-inflammatory molecules could be useful. Certainly steroids are powerful anti-inflammatory, indicated for the treatment of chronic inflammatory disorders and in acute respiratory and allergic diseases. Beside, thanks to their chemical and pharmacological profile, they also provide patients with an antipyretic effect. However, the use of steroids must be reserved to cases in which other classical antipyretics such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are not effective. The possible side effects and risks associated with stepping down steroids must be considered. Although "steroids-phobia" should be discouraged, steroids are to be reserved only as the first indication. In all other cases the pediatrician can use ibuprofen, whose efficacy and safety are widely demonstrated by now.

Joint pain epidemiology and analgesic usage in Madagascar

“…This choice of the NSAID is commonly seen in young populations especially in the pediatric world where their effectiveness and safety are widely appreciated [16]. NSAIDs also have an advantage for non-specific lower back pain as they both lessen the pain and facilitate movements whereas other therapeutic categories have only analgesic actions [17].…”

The Meaning of Fever in Children

“…Кроме того, к применению у детей не реко-мендованы комбинированные средства, содержащие жаропонижающие и антигистаминные препараты и/или кодеин [3,4,26]. Ибупрофен и парацетамол с успехом используют в клинической практике в качестве анальгетиков при головной и зубной боли, ота-, невра-, артра-, миа-лгии, абдоминальной боли, они могут быть препаратами выбора при этих состояниях, особенно если эти состоя-ния сопровождаются лихорадкой [27]. Однако хорошее анальгезирующее действие не должно являться пово-дом для прекращения лечения основного заболевания пациента.…”

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of New 1,3-Thiazolidine-4-one Derivatives of 2-(4-Isobutylphenyl)propionic Acid

“…Ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) with an arylpropionic acid structure is very useful in therapy for its analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effects [1,2]. Long-term use of this drug, like most NSAIDs, has however been associated with gastro-intestinal (GI) ulceration, bleeding and nephrotoxicity [3,4].…”

“…In the present study, some new derivatives of ibuprofen that contain thiazolidine-4-one scaffolds were synthesized in order to obtain compounds with double effect-antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The structures of the compounds were assigned based on their spectral data (FT-IR, 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, MS) and the compounds were screened for their in vitro antioxidant potential.…”