Ibuprofen Bests Acetaminophen in Pediatric Pneumonia

Some studies have suggested that children with pneumonia do not do well with ibuprofen therapy.

But in research presented at the Pediatric Academies Society's meeting in Baltimore, MD April 30 a team from Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY said it found that was not the case--at least not compared to treatment with acetaminophen.

There were 1,865 pneumonia admissions to the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the study's 12-year time period, Amanda Clark, MD and colleagues wrote. Of these, 816 patients received only

ibuprofen and 1049 patients received only acetaminophen during the first 48 hours of admission.

The overall median length of stay for these patients was 3.06 days. Children who received ibuprofen had a median stay of 2.82 days compared to 3.32 days for those who received acetaminophen.

Further, the team found, the children treated with ibuprofen were less likely to need care in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

The odds of PICU stay decreased by 83% for those treated with ibuprofen compared to acetaminophen.

"In children admitted with pneumonia, we found that ibuprofen therapy was associated with a shorter hospital LOS when compared to acetaminophen therapy, and this was more pronounced in patients with PICU stays," the researchers concluded, adding that the finding "Is in contrast to previous studies suggesting poor clinical outcomes with ibuprofen administration."

Since theirs was a retrospective study, they called for prospective studies to further determine the role of NSAIDs in these pediatric patients.