Paracetamol is as effective as ibuprofen for helping ease pain in children who have just had a bone fracture. Dr Michael Shepherd and Dr Richard Aickin at the Children’s Emergency Department of the Starship Hospital in Auckland have been studying the two medicines in over 70 children aged five to 14 years, over two periods: October 2004 to April 2005 and March 2007 to August 2007. Limb fractures in children are a common sight in emergency departments: the researchers say the chance during childhood is 18% to 30%. The most common fracture site is the lower arm (radius and ulna), and the most common age for a fracture is 14 years for boys and 11 years for girls. “Most children with an acute fracture can be managed by regular simple oral analgesia and standard immobilisation techniques,” says Dr Shepherd. Parents report that children feel significant pain after hospital discharge with an acute limb fracture. This is the first study to include child-reported pain experience. The average pain score over the 48-hour period post-fracture when children took regular paracetamol or ibuprofen was less than 3 out of 10. No differences in pain levels were identified between the groups who took paracetamol or ibuprofen. The study is published in the December 2009 issue of Emergency Medicine Australasia.