Background: Postoperative pain is a common phenomenon, and its management affects considerably on the recovery process, and patients’ satisfaction. Apotel and pethidine are two conventional medicines used to relieve pain after operation. 
Objectives: The present study aimed to compare the effect of intravenous injection of Apotel and intramuscular injection of pethidine in relieving pain after hemilaminectomy. 
Materials & Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, 150 patients who underwent hemilaminectomy were recruited between May 2015 and November 2015. They were taking either Apotel (n=75) or pethidine (n=75) after the operation, which was done at Poursina Hospital affiliated to Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht City, Iran. The patients’ pain levels were measured using visual analog scale (VAS), and the results were compared between the 2 groups.
Results: There was no significant difference in the total VAS score between the Apotel and pethidine groups (P=0.189). However, there was a significant reduction in VAS score hours 2 (P=0.03) and 4 (P=0.004) hours after the injection of Apotel in this group, compared with those scores in the pethidine group. Also, VAS scores at other times (8, 12, 20, 28 hours after the injection) were lower than those in the pethidine group, but the difference was not significant.
Conclusion: Apotel was better pain-killer in the early hours after the first injection compared to pethidine. But its effect was similar to pethidine at the late hours after the first injection. Therefore it seems that Apotel is better painkiller after laminectomy, especially in the early hours after the operation.