Background: Pain on injection is an acknowledged adverse effect (AE) of propofol administration for the induction of general anesthesia. Flurbiprofen axetil has been reported to reduce the pain of injection. However, results of published papers on the efficacy of flurbiprofen axetil in managing pain on injection of propofol are inconsistent. Material/Methods: We conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of studies to appraise the efficacy and safety of flurbiprofen axetil for controlling pain induced by propofol injection. The pooled risk ratio (RR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated employing fixed- or random-effects models, depending upon the heterogeneity of the included trials. Results: Compared with the placebo group, flurbiprofen axetil allows more patients to have no pain (RR 3.51, 95% CI 2.22–5.55, p=0.000), and decreases the cumulative number of patients with mild, moderate, and severe pain on injecting propofol (RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.58–0.86, p=0.000; RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.46–0.75, p=0.000; RR 0.25, 95% CI 0.16–0.38, p=0.000, respectively). In the stratified analysis by the doses, flurbiprofen axetil at a dose of over 50 mg was found to be effective in reducing propofol-induced pain on injection; however, there were no significant differences in relieving pain between treatment and placebo groups with flurbiprofen axetil at a dose of 25 mg. In terms of drug safety, there were no adverse effects (AEs) reported between flurbiprofen axetil-based regimens and placebo regimens. Conclusions: Flurbiprofen axetil, an injectable prodrug of flurbiprofen, can significantly prevent or relieve the pain induced by propofol injection. More studies are required to assess its adverse effects.

Keywords: Flurbiprofen - therapeutic use, Clinical Trials as Topic, Pain - prevention & control, Propofol - adverse effects, Publication Bias, Risk Factors