Trial reportPain research & management2026
The Analgesic Efficacy and Safety of Intramuscular Hydromorphone Versus Butorphanol for Acute Pain in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Trial.
Trial report in Pain research & management, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- The Analgesic Efficacy and Safety of Intramuscular Hydromorphone Versus Butorphanol for Acute Pain in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Trial.Pain research & management · 2026Trial
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAcute pain represents a distressing encounter for most patients in the emergency department (ED), profoundly impacting their quality of life. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and morphine represent the most widely utilized analgesics; however, their clinical application in acute pain management is limited by their delayed onset of pharmacological action or significant risk of addiction. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the analgesic efficacy and safety of intramuscular hydromorphone and butorphanol in patients with acute pain in the ED.
methodsThis randomized controlled clinical trial randomly divided 199 patients with moderate to severe acute pain into two groups in a 1:1 ratio, receiving intramuscular injections of 1 mg of hydromorphone or butorphanol, respectively. Primary outcomes included pain intensity changes measured by the numerical rating scale (NRS), while secondary outcomes encompassed supplemental analgesic requirements, vital sign alterations, adverse event incidence, and patients' destination.
resultsComparative analysis revealed that hydromorphone administration resulted in significantly greater NRS score reductions compared to butorphanol, with superior pain relief rates observed at both 1 (56% vs. 44%, p = 0.013) and 2 h (69% vs. 60%, p = 0.002) intervals, and a greater proportion of apparent relief at 2 h (88% vs. 69%, p = 0.002), particularly in cases of severe pain (78% vs. 56%, p = 0.001). The hydromorphone group demonstrated significantly lower supplemental analgesic requirements at 2 h postadministration (0.0% vs. 6.1%, p = 0.031). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions, the final destination, and the effects on heart rate, respiration, and oxygen saturation between the two groups. Common adverse reactions included dizziness or headache, nausea or vomiting, and injection pain.
conclusionBoth hydromorphone and butorphanol were effective and safe in alleviating moderate to severe acute pain in the ED. However, hydromorphone exhibited superior analgesic effectiveness and a more rapid onset of action compared to butorphanol, particularly in cases of severe pain.
trial registrationChinese Registry of Clinical Trial: ChiCTR2400088376.
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