A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHIC REVIEW ON PARACETAMOL & IBUPROFEN

Despite the widespread use of ibuprofen and paracetamol, thankfully the rate of severe toxicity in children remains rare. Meta-analyses confirm that the safety and tolerability profiles of paracetamol and ibuprofen in managing children¿s pain and fever are similar, and that both drugs are associated with specific rare adverse events, which are difficult to detect and quantify in all but the largest clinical trials.However, despite published evidence to the contrary, globally paracetamol is perceived as having better GI, renal and respiratory safety and overall better tolerability than ibuprofen. In turn, ibuprofen is perceived as having better GI safety than aspirin and its safety profile, particularly for short-term use is poorly understood among health-care practitioners and the public.Ibuprofen is suitable for self medication with regards to its relatively wide spectrum of indication, good tolerance and safety. Overall, it has been rated as the safest conventional NSAID by the spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting system in the United Kingdom.