Efficacy and safety of three different analgesic methods for patients undergoing transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy: a prospective, randomized controlled trial

Recent evidence suggests that additional analgesic regimens to periprostatic nerve block (PPNB) anesthesia provide substantial pain relief during transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy. In this regard, we investigated the efficacy and safety of tramadol alone or in combination with parecoxib as adjunct regimens to PPNB anesthesia. A total of 51 participants were randomly allocated into three study groups: Group 1 received PPNB anesthesia, Group 2 received tramadol and PPNB anesthesia, whereas Group 3 received both tramadol and parecoxib as adjunct regimens to PPNB anesthesia. The pain was evaluated at three different time points during biopsy: at the time of probe insertion (NRS1), at the time of PPNB anesthesia (NRS2), and at the time of the actual biopsy itself (NRS3), using a numeric rating scale (NRS) of pain. Safety was evaluated by the occurrence of complications and adverse effects. The mean NRS1 score was statistically significantly different in Groups 2 and 3 than in Group 1 (2.4 ± 1.3 and 1.1 ± 1.2 vs. 4.5 ± 1.8; p