SynthesisPaediatric drugs2026
Efficacy of Ibuprofen Versus Acetaminophen for Acute Fever Management in Febrile Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in Paediatric drugs, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIbuprofen and acetaminophen are the most widely used antipyretic agents in pediatric practice. Despite their common use, comparative evidence on their relative efficacy in febrile children remains heterogeneous, and clinical recommendations vary across guidelines and countries.
objectiveWe aimed to evaluate the comparative antipyretic efficacy of ibuprofen versus acetaminophen in febrile children through a systematic review and meta-analysis restricted to randomized controlled trials.
methodsA systematic search was conducted in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science using a predefined strategy combining terms for ibuprofen, paracetamol/acetaminophen, fever/febrile/pyrexia, and pediatric populations. The primary outcome was the proportion of children afebrile at 4 h. Continuous outcomes included temperature reduction at 4 h, time without fever during the first 4 h, and time-weighted summary temperature differences over 0-8 h. The study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420261353471).
resultsA total of 479 records were identified; after duplicate removal and screening, seven studies were included in the quantitative synthesis. For the primary outcome of afebrile status at 4 h, the pooled risk ratio was 1.26 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.88-1.80; p = 0.106). Temperature reduction at 4 h was significantly greater with ibuprofen (mean difference 0.31 °C, p = 0.024). The time-weighted summary temperature outcome over 0-8 h numerically favored ibuprofen but did not reach statistical significance (mean difference - 3.52, 95% CI - 21.24 to 14.21; p = 0.240; I
conclusionsThe primary outcome-the proportion of children achieving afebrile status at 4 h-did not differ significantly between ibuprofen and acetaminophen (risk ratio 1.26, 95% CI 0.88-1.80; p = 0.106). Ibuprofen produced a statistically greater reduction in temperature at 4 h compared with acetaminophen (mean difference 0.31 °C), although this difference is unlikely to be clinically meaningful. These findings suggest a marginal quantitative advantage of ibuprofen to decrease body temperature, without a clinically significant difference between the two agents.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.