Get your patient on Ibuprofen

Carefully consider the potential benefits and risks of Ibuprofen tablets and other treatment options before deciding to use ibuprofen. Use the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration consistent with individual patient treatment goals (see WARNINGS ).

Ibuprofen tablets are indicated for relief of the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Ibuprofen tablets are indicated for relief of mild to moderate pain.

Ibuprofen tablets are also indicated for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea.

Controlled clinical trials to establish the safety and effectiveness of Ibuprofen tablets in children have not been conducted.

Carefully consider the potential benefits and risks of Ibuprofen tablets and other treatment options before deciding to use Ibuprofen tablets. Use the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration consistent with individual patient treatment goals (see WARNINGS ).

After observing the response to initial therapy with Ibuprofen tablets, the dose and frequency should be adjusted to suit an individual patient’s needs.

Do not exceed 3200 mg total daily dose. If gastrointestinal complaints occur, administer Ibuprofen tablets with meals or milk.

Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, including flare-ups of chronic disease:

Suggested Dosage: 1200 mg-3200 mg daily (400 mg, 600 mg or 800 mg tid or qid). Individual patients may show a better response to 3200 mg daily, as compared with 2400 mg, although in well-controlled clinical trials patients on 3200 mg did not show a better mean response in terms of efficacy. Therefore, when treating patients with 3200 mg/day, the physician should observe sufficient increased clinical benefits to offset potential increased risk.

The dose should be tailored to each patient, and may be lowered or raised depending on the severity of symptoms either at time of initiating drug therapy or as the patient responds or fails to respond.

In general, patients with rheumatoid arthritis seem to require higher doses of Ibuprofen tablets than do patients with osteoarthritis.

The smallest dose of Ibuprofen tablets that yields acceptable control should be employed. A linear blood level dose-response relationship exists with single doses up to 800 mg (See CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY for effects of food on rate of absorption).

The availability of three tablet strengths facilitates dosage adjustment.

In chronic conditions , a therapeutic response to therapy with Ibuprofen tablets is sometimes seen in a few days to a week but most often is observed by two weeks. After a satisfactory response has been achieved, the patient’s dose should be reviewed and adjusted as required.

Mild to moderate pain: 400 mg every 4 to 6 hours as necessary for relief of pain.

In controlled analgesic clinical trials, doses of Ibuprofen tablets greater than 400 mg were no more effective than the 400 mg dose.

Dysmenorrhea: For the treatment of dysmenorrhea, beginning with the earliest onset of such pain, Ibuprofen tablets should be given in a dose of 400 mg every 4 hours as necessary for the relief of pain.

Ibuprofen tablets are contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to ibuprofen.

Ibuprofen tablets should not be given to patients who have experienced asthma, urticaria, or allergic-type reactions after taking aspirin or other NSAIDs. Severe, rarely fatal, anaphylactic-like reactions to NSAIDs have been reported in such patients (see WARNINGS, Anaphylactoid Reactions, and PRECAUTIONS, Preexisting Asthma ).

Ibuprofen tablets are contraindicated for the treatment of peri-operative pain in the setting of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery (see WARNINGS ).

The most frequent type of adverse reaction occurring with Ibuprofen tablets is gastrointestinal. In controlled clinical trials the percentage of patients reporting one or more gastrointestinal complaints ranged from 4% to 16%.

In controlled studies when Ibuprofen tablets were compared to aspirin and indomethacin in equally effective doses, the overall incidence of gastrointestinal complaints was about half that seen in either the aspirin- or indomethacin-treated patients.

Adverse reactions observed during controlled clinical trials at an incidence greater than 1% are listed in the table. Those reactions listed in Column one encompass observations in approximately 3,000 patients. More than 500 of these patients were treated for periods of at least 54 weeks.

Still other reactions occurring less frequently than 1 in 100 were reported in controlled clinical trials and from marketing experience. These reactions have been divided into two categories: Column two of the table lists reactions with therapy with Ibuprofen tablets where the probability of a causal relationship exists: for the reactions in Column three, a causal relationship with Ibuprofen tablets has not been established.

Reported side effects were higher at doses of 3200 mg/day than at doses of 2400 mg or less per day in clinical trials of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The increases in incidence were slight and still within the ranges reported in the table.

• Reactions occurring in 3% to 9% of patients treated with ibuprofen tablets. (Those reactions occurring in less than 3% of the patients are unmarked.)

•• Reactions are classified under “Probable Causal Relationship (PCR)” if there has been one positive rechallenge or if three or more cases occur which might be causally related. Reactions are classified under

“Causal Relationship Unknown” if seven or more events have been reported but the criteria for PCR have not been met.

ACE-inhibitors:

Reports suggest that NSAIDs may diminish the antihypertensive effect of ACE-inhibitors. This interaction should be given consideration in patients taking NSAIDs concomitantly with ACE-inhibitors.

Aspirin

Pharmacodynamic studies have demonstrated interference with the antiplatelet activity of aspirin when ibuprofen 400 mg, given three times daily, is administered with enteric-coated low-dose aspirin. The interaction exists even following a once-daily regimen of ibuprofen 400 mg, particularly when ibuprofen is dosed prior to aspirin. The interaction is alleviated if immediate-release low-dose aspirin is dosed at least 2 hours prior to a once-daily regimen of ibuprofen; however, this finding cannot be extended to enteric-coated low-dose aspirin (see Clinical Pharmacology/Pharmacodynamics ).

Because there may be an increased risk of cardiovascular events due to the interference of ibuprofen with the antiplatelet effect of aspirin, for patients taking low-dose aspirin for cardioprotection who require analgesics, consider use of an NSAID that does not interfere with the antiplatelet effect of aspirin, or non-NSAID analgesics, where appropriate.

When Ibuprofen tablets are administered with aspirin, its protein binding is reduced, although the clearance of free Ibuprofen tablets is not altered. The clinical significance of this interaction is not known; however, as with other NSAIDs, concomitant administration of ibuprofen and aspirin is not generally recommended because of the potential for increased adverse effects.

Diuretics

Clinical studies, as well as post marketing observations, have shown that Ibuprofen tablets can reduce the natriuretic effect-of furosemide and thiazides in some patients. This response has been attributed to inhibition of renal prostaglandin synthesis. During concomitant therapy with NSAIDs, the patient should be observed closely for signs of renal failure (see PRECAUTIONS, Renal Effects ), as well as to assure diuretic efficacy.

Lithium

Ibuprofen produced an elevation of plasma lithium levels and a reduction in renal lithium clearance in a study of eleven normal volunteers. The mean minimum lithium concentration increased 15% and the renal clearance of lithium was decreased by 19% during this period of concomitant drug administration.

This effect has been attributed to inhibition of renal prostaglandin synthesis by ibuprofen. Thus, when ibuprofen and lithium are administered concurrently, subjects should be observed carefully for signs of lithium toxicity. (Read circulars for lithium preparation before use of such concurrent therapy.)

Methotrexate

NSAIDs have been reported to competitively inhibit methotrexate accumulation in rabbit kidney slices. This may indicate that they could enhance the toxicity of methotrexate. Caution should be used when NSAIDs are administered concomitantly with methotrexate.

Warfarin-type anticoagulants

Several short-term controlled studies failed to show that Ibuprofen tablets significantly affected prothrombin times or a variety of other clotting factors when administered to individuals on coumarin-type anticoagulants. However, because bleeding has been reported when Ibuprofen tablets and other NSAIDs have been administered to patients on coumarin-type anticoagulants, the physician should be cautious when administering Ibuprofen tablets to patients on anticoagulants. The effects of warfarin and NSAIDs on GI bleeding are synergistic, such that the users of both drugs together have a risk of serious GI bleeding higher than users of either drug alone.

H-2 Antagonists

In studies with human volunteers, co-administration of cimetidine or ranitidine with ibuprofen had no substantive effect on ibuprofen serum concentrations.

Ibuprofen tablets contain the active ingredient ibuprofen, which is (±) - 2 - (p - isobutylphenyl) propionic acid. Ibuprofen is a white powder with a melting point of 74-77°C and is very slightly soluble in water (<1 mg/mL) and readily soluble in organic solvents such as ethanol and acetone. The structural formula is represented below:

Ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), is available in 400 mg, 600 mg, and 800 mg tablets for oral administration. Inactive ingredients: carnauba wax, colloidal silicon dioxide, croscarmellose sodium, hypromellose, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polydextrose, polyethylene glycol, polysorbate, titanium dioxide.

Ibuprofen tablets contain ibuprofen which possesses analgesic and antipyretic activities. Its mode of action, like that of other NSAIDs, is not completely understood, but may be related to prostaglandin synthetase inhibition.

In clinical studies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, Ibuprofen tablets have been shown to be comparable to aspirin in controlling pain and inflammation and to be associated with a statistically significant reduction in the milder gastrointestinal side effects (see ADVERSE REACTIONS ). Ibuprofen may be well tolerated in some patients who have had gastrointestinal side effects with aspirin, but these patients when treated with Ibuprofen tablets should be carefully followed for signs and symptoms of gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding. Although it is not definitely known whether ibuprofen causes less peptic ulceration than aspirin, in one study involving 885 patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated for up to one year, there were no reports of gastric ulceration with ibuprofen whereas frank ulceration was reported in 13 patients in the aspirin group (statistically significant p<.001).

Gastroscopic studies at varying doses show an increased tendency toward gastric irritation at higher doses. However, at comparable doses, gastric irritation is approximately half that seen with aspirin. Studies using ⁵¹ Cr-tagged red cells indicate that fecal blood loss associated with Ibuprofen tablets in doses up to 2400 mg daily did not exceed the normal range, and was significantly less than that seen in aspirin-treated patients.

In clinical studies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, ibuprofen has been shown to be comparable to indomethacin in controlling the signs and symptoms of disease activity and to be associated with a statistically significant reduction of the milder gastrointestinal (see ADVERSE REACTIONS ) and CNS side effects.

Ibuprofen may be used in combination with gold salts and/or corticosteroids.

Controlled studies have demonstrated that ibuprofen is a more effective analgesic than propoxyphene for the relief of episiotomy pain, pain following dental extraction procedures, and for the relief of the symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea.

In patients with primary dysmenorrhea, ibuprofen has been shown to reduce elevated levels of prostaglandin activity in the menstrual fluid and to reduce resting and active intrauterine pressure, as well as the frequency of uterine contractions. The probable mechanism of action is to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis rather than simply to provide analgesia.

Pharmacodynamics

In a healthy volunteer study, ibuprofen 400 mg given once daily, administered 2 hours prior to immediate-release aspirin (81 mg) for 6 days, showed an interaction with the antiplatelet activity of aspirin as measured by % serum thromboxane B2 (TxB2) inhibition at 24 hours following the day-6 aspirin dose [53%]. An interaction was still observed, but minimized, when ibuprofen 400 mg given once-daily was administered as early as 8 hours prior to the immediate-release aspirin dose [90.7%]. However, there was no interaction with the antiplatelet activity of aspirin when ibuprofen 400 mg, given once daily, was administered 2 hours after (but not concomitantly, 15 min, or 30 min after) the immediate-release aspirin dose [99.2%].

In another study, where immediate-release aspirin 81 mg was administered once daily with ibuprofen 400 mg given three times daily (1, 7, and 13 hours post-aspirin dose) for 10 consecutive days, the mean % serum thromboxane B2 (TxB2) inhibition suggested no interaction with the antiplatelet activity of aspirin [98.3%]. However, there were individual subjects with serum TxB2 inhibition below 95%, with the lowest being 90.2%.

When a similarly designed study was conducted with enteric-coated aspirin, where healthy subjects were administered enteric-coated aspirin 81 mg once daily for 6 days and ibuprofen 400 mg three times daily (2, 7 and 12 h post-aspirin dose) for 6 days, there was an interaction with the antiplatelet activity at 24 hours following the day-6 aspirin dose [67%]. (See Precautions/Drug Interactions ).

Pharmacokinetics

The ibuprofen in Ibuprofen tablets is rapidly absorbed. Peak serum ibuprofen levels are generally attained one to two hours after administration. With single doses up to 800 mg, a linear relationship exists between amount of drug administered and the integrated area under the serum drug concentration vs time curve. Above 800 mg, however, the area under the curve increases less than proportional to increases in dose. There is no evidence of drug accumulation or enzyme induction.

The administration of Ibuprofen tablets either under fasting conditions or immediately before meals yields quite similar serum ibuprofen concentration-time profiles. When ibuprofen is administered immediately after a meal, there is a reduction in the rate of absorption but no appreciable decrease in the extent of absorption. The bioavailability of the drug is minimally altered by the presence of food.

A bioavailability study has shown that there was no interference with the absorption of ibuprofen when given in conjunction with an antacid containing both aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide.

Ibuprofen is rapidly metabolized and eliminated in the urine. The excretion of ibuprofen is virtually complete 24 hours after the last dose. The serum half-life is 1.8 to 2.0 hours.

Studies have shown that following ingestion of the drug, 45% to 79% of the dose was recovered in the urine within 24 hours as metabolite A (25%), (+)-2-[ p -(2hydroxymethyl-propyl) phenyl] propionic acid and metabolite B (37%), (+)-2-[ p -(2carboxypropyl)phenyl]propionic acid; the percentages of free and conjugated ibuprofen were approximately 1% and 14%, respectively.

Ibuprofen tablets are available in the following strengths, colors and sizes:

400 mg (white, oval shaped, debossed B I4)
Quantity: 34000 tablets
NDC 11788-008-00

600 mg (white, olive, debossed B I6)
Quantity: 22600 tablets
NDC 11788-009-00

800 mg (white, caplet, debossed B I8)
Quantity: 17000 tablets
NDC 11788-010-00

Store at room temperature 15-30°C