Effect of Combinations of Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, and Dexamethasone on Patient-Controlled Morphine Consumption in the First 24 Hours After Total Hip Arthroplasty

Summary

Multimodal pain management is essential for recovery after surgery, aiming to target different pain mechanisms to minimize opioid usage and opioid-related adverse effects. Evidence for benefits and harms of various non-opioid analgesic combinations is, however, nearly non-existing, and large-scale trials are urgently needed. Recently, the investigators have demonstrated that combining paracetamol and ibuprofen is superior to each single drug when assessing pain after hip replacement. Further improvement is needed, investigating additional non-opioid analgesics to this combination. Glucocorticoids have anti-emetic and analgesic properties, but evidence for analgesic efficacy in combination with paracetamol and ibuprofen is lacking. The RECIPE trial is an investigator-initiated randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel, 4-group, blinded multicentre trial with 90-day follow-up investigating benefits and harms of different combinations of paracetamol, ibuprofen, and dexamethasone for patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. The primary outcome is total use of IV morphine 0-24 hours postoperatively. Secondary outcomes are pain (upon mobilisation, at rest, and during 5 m walk), and adverse events. Exploratory outcomes include quality of sleep, opioid-related adverse effects, serious adverse events (\< 90 days), and patient reported disability score and quality of life (at 90 days). Based on sample-size calculations, 1060 patients are needed to detect a minimal clinically important difference in 24-hour morphine consumption of 8 mg, using a familywise type 1 error rate of 0.05 and a type 2 error rate of 0.2. The primary analyses will be based on the intention to treat population. More than six Danish university- and regional hospitals will participate in the trial. With this trial the investigators expect to lay the foundation for the best postoperative multimodal analgesic regimen for both total hip arthroplasty and possibly other surgeries, thereby facilitating recovery for millions of future surgical patients worldwide.

Timeline

Start

2020-03-05

Primary completion

2022-11-15

Completion

2023-02-15

Publications

• Steiness J, Hagi-Pedersen D, Lunn TH, Overgaard S, Brorson S, Graungaard BK, Lindberg-Larsen M, Varnum C, Lundstrom LH, Beck T, Skettrup M, Pedersen NA, Bieder MJ, von Cappeln AG, Pleckaitiene L, Lindholm P, Bukhari SSH, Derby CB, Nielsen MG, Exsteen OW, Vinstrup LO, Thybo KH, Gasbjerg KS, Norskov AK, Jakobsen JC, Mathiesen O; RECIPE trial group. Non-opioid analgesic combinations following total hip arthroplasty (RECIPE): a randomised, placebo-controlled, blinded, multicentre trial. Lancet Rheumatol. 2024 Apr;6(4):e205-e215. doi: 10.1016/S2665-9913(24)00020-1. Epub 2024 Mar 5.
• Steiness J, Hagi-Pedersen D, Lunn TH, Lindberg-Larsen M, Graungaard BK, Lundstrom LH, Lindholm P, Brorson S, Bieder MJ, Beck T, Skettrup M, von Cappeln AG, Thybo KH, Gasbjerg KS, Overgaard S, Jakobsen JC, Mathiesen O. Paracetamol, ibuprofen and dexamethasone for pain treatment after total hip arthroplasty: protocol for the randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel 4-group, blinded, multicentre RECIPE trial. BMJ Open. 2022 Sep 1;12(9):e058965. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058965.

Drugs

Indications