a comparison of the antipyretic effect of acetaminophen and ibuprofen in febrile children hospitalized at amir-al-momenin hospital in semnan, iran

prolonged and high fever may cause various disturbances in children, and prompt lowering of fever is essential. therefore, an appropriate treatment aimed at rapid lowering of fever and keeping the child afebrile is mandated. there have been various studies on the different types of anti-pyretic treatment in children. the aim of our study is to compare the antipyretic effect of acetaminophen and ibuprofen.100 febrile patients aged 2 months-12 years who were admitted into amir-al-momenin hospital in semnan in 2005, were randomly allocated into two groups consisting of 50 patients each. acetaminophen (15 mg/kg/dose) was administered to one group and ibuprofen (10 mg/kg/dose) to the other. body temperature for each patient was recorded initially before the administration of each drug; and subsequently at 30 min., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 hours after the drug use. there was no significant difference between the antipyretic effect of acetaminophen and ibuprofen until the end of the 3rd hour. both drugs lowered fever markedly and proved to be equally effective. however during the 4 th (p=0.029), 5 th (p=0.012), and 6 th (p=0.012) hour after treatment, ibuprofen was more effective than acetaminophen. in conclusion both acetaminophen and ibuprofen proved to be effective antipyretic agents. the antipyretic effect of both drugs as well as their efficacies was the same, but the duration of action of ibuprofen was longer than acetaminophen.