ArticleBritish journal of pain2018
Onset of analgesia by a topically administered flurbiprofen lozenge: a randomised controlled trial using the double stopwatch method.
Article in British journal of pain, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of flurbiprofen 8.75 mg dose and risk of adverse events (excluding haemorrhagic) resulting from drug-drug interactions.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy of Locally Applied Flurbiprofen in Sore Throat Treatment: A Scoping Review.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Development and refinement of the sore throat pain model as an assay for measuring therapeutic effects on acute pain.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Article
- Penetration of Flurbiprofen from a Locally Applied Sore Throat Lozenge and Spray into Cadaveric Human Pharynx Tissue: A Novel ex vivo Model and Microautoradiography Method.Clinical pharmacology : advances and applications · 2021Article
- Determination of the Permeation and Penetration of Flurbiprofen into Cadaveric Human Pharynx Tissue.Clinical pharmacology : advances and applications · 2020Article
- Validation of an analytical method to quantify the permeation and penetration of flurbiprofen into human pharynx tissue.Biomedical chromatography : BMC · 2019Article
- Locally Delivered Flurbiprofen 8.75 mg for Treatment and Prevention of Sore Throat: A Narrative Review of Clinical Studies.Journal of pain research · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe double stopwatch (DSW) method for determining the onset of analgesic activity has been implemented extensively by investigators studying orally administered drugs.
objectiveThe aim of this randomised, placebo-controlled trial was to use the DSW method to determine the time to onset of analgesia of a single dose of a topically administered non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, flurbiprofen 8.75 mg lozenge.
methodsAdults with acute sore throat (n = 122) were examined to confirm the presence of tonsillopharyngitis (Tonsillo-Pharyngitis Assessment) and sore throat pain of at least moderate intensity (≥6 on a 0-10 Sore Throat Scale). Lozenges containing flurbiprofen 8.75 mg or inert ingredients (identically flavoured) were administered under double-blind conditions in the clinic while patients assessed pain and pain relief over 3 hours. Onset of analgesia was determined using the DSW method and reported as the Kaplan-Meier median time to meaningful relief. The median time to first perceived relief was also documented.
resultsAbout 78% of flurbiprofen-treated patients reported meaningful pain relief compared with 48% of placebo-treated patients (p < 0.01); median time to meaningful relief for flurbiprofen-treated patients was 43 minutes (placebo-treated patients were right-censored due to non-responsivity; p = 0.01). Median time to first perceived pain relief was 11 minutes for flurbiprofen-treated patients and 19 minutes for placebo-treated patients (p = 0.03). Flurbiprofen lozenge was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events occurring and no patient discontinuing due to an adverse event.
conclusionThese results indicate that the DSW method can be successfully applied to the evaluation of the onset of action of a locally administered analgesic in patients with acute sore throat, demonstrating that the onset of action (time to meaningful pain relief) of flurbiprofen lozenge was <45 minutes.
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