A new study reportedly suggests that children dealing with pain from a bone fracture might be better off being treated with ibuprofen than with oral morphine, according to the media outlet UPI.

The results of the recent study, which was published in the Canadian Medical Association, are significant primarily because the negative side effects associated with oral morphine reportedly make it a less advantageous choice for children, according to researchers.

"Evidence suggests that orally administered morphine and other opiods are increasingly being prescribed," stated study author Dr. Naveen Poonai, a research at the London Health Sciences Center and Western University in Ontario, in a press release.

Poonai added, "However, evidence for the oral administration of morphine in acute pain management is limited. Thus, additional studies are needed to address this gap in knowledge and provide a scientific basis for outpatient analgesic choices in children."

Bone fractures reportedly make up between 10 and 25 percent of all children's injuries and can remain painful for the first 48 hours after injury, according to the website HNGN.

For the study, researchers reportedly analyzed 134 children between the ages of 5 and 17 years old. They compared the 66 patients who took oral morphine with the 68 participants who were prescribed ibuprofen to find out which medication better relieved the pain. Researchers reportedly found that although both treatments are effective overall at reducing pain, oral morphine led to more negative effects including drowsiness, nausea and vomiting.

"Given that morphine was associated with significantly more adverse effects, we conclude that ibuprofen remains a safe and effective therapy for outpatient management of children's fracture pain. We hope that our results will provide clinicians with a foundation for rational analgesic choices for children with fractures who are discharged from the emergency department," authors wrote.