BACKGROUND Relieving pain is one of the fundamental responsibilities of medical practitioners and is frequently a primary goal of patients seeking care. Many published reviews have outlined this problem, some showing that up to 70% of patients receive ineffective, inadequate or delayed pain relief. The pain that accompanies surgical procedures remains prevalent and is an aspect of the perioperative experience that generates the greatest concern for patients about to undergo surgery. There is also a growing concern that acute painful experiences can also lead to long-term painful consequences, even when tissue healing appears to be complete. The objective of our study is to assess intramuscular Parecoxib with regard to its efficacy in pain relief, duration of action, need for supplements, safety and adverse effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study comprised of 100 postoperative patients of both sexes between age group of 18-70 years who were scheduled for various elective surgical procedures and all those who satisfied inclusion and exclusion criteria. All patients were visited preoperatively, a written informed consent was taken and premedicated with diazepam 0.2 mg/kg body weight at night. Parecoxib sodium 40 mg IM was given in the recovery room, when patient complained of pain and injection time was noted. The time of onset of action of Parecoxib, duration of analgesia, quality of analgesia were recorded by VAS. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded at intervals. Supplementary doses of Parecoxib necessary was administered and the time noted. Any adverse effects were noted. The observations were recorded, tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. RESULTS In the study group, 45 were male and 55 were female. Mean duration of analgesia (VAS of 6 and below) was 13 +/- 2.74 hours. Quality of analgesia was excellent to good (VAS 1-2) in 55% of patients. There was no significant change in blood pressure or heart rate for 2-8 hours after intramuscular administration. There were 9% of patients with nausea and vomiting, 4% with headache and 3% with pruritus. CONCLUSION Intramuscular Parecoxib is useful for pain relief in postoperative analgesia with half the number of patients in study enjoying excellent analgesia (VAS of 2 and below) at 2 hours. 62% of the patients had VAS of 6 and below at 12 hours after intramuscular administration. 7% of the patients in the study needed supplementation (rescue doses) of 40 mg of Parecoxib sodium intramuscularly at 10 hours.