Aim: To investigate the preemptive effect of etofenomate on postoperative pain and emesis in the first 24 hours after elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Method: Patients were randomly assigned to two groups each consisting of 60 patients. Group A was received 1g (2 ml) etofenomate intramuscularly, group B was received 0.9% saline intramuscularly one hour before surgery. All patients were administered meperidine HCl in the patient -controlled analgesia (PCA) intravenous mode in order to

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... postoperative pain. Pain intensity was assessed on visual analog scales (VAS) at four times; 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours and 24 hours. The total meperidine HCl consumptions, VAS scores and antiemetic requirements were recorded and comparisons among the two groups were evaluated. Result: The mean total meperidine HCl consumptions within first 6 and 24 hours of the group A were significantly less than the group B. The VAS scores at 1 and 6 hours in the group A were significantly lower than that in the group B. There was no significant difference in the postoperative antiemetic requirement among two groups. Conclusion: Preemptive use of etofenamate reduces pain intensity and meperidine HCl requirement, but it doesn't affect the antiemetic requirement in elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy.