Efficacy of intravenous acetaminophen injection on pain intensity and opioid consumption in patients undergoing radius shaft fracture surgery

Aims and

Regarding the importance of providing analgesia for patients during and after orthopedic surgeries, the present study has been designed to evaluate the analgesic effect of Intravenous Acetaminophen(Apotel) and its effect on opioid consumption in patients undergoing radius shaft fracture surgery.

In this research, 160 patients with radius shaft fracture who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into two groups using random number table: Apotel (A) and placebo (P). The Apotel group received 1mg paracetamol in 200cc N/S, 20 min before surgery; while the placebo group received 200cc N/S only. The mean dose of opioid consumption during surgery and 24 hours after the surgery, and also the mean interval to first analgesic request have been recorded. Visual analogue scale (VAS) was used for measuring pain score of patients after surgery.

The mean dose of opioid consumption during surgery (fentanyl based on micrograms) in Apotel group was 51/42-/+2/3 and it was 70/10-/+3/6 in the placebo group. Considering the p.value <0.05 to be significant, there has been a significant difference between the two group regarding opioid consumption during surgery. This amount has been clearly less in Apotel group. Pain scores of two groups were determined, which showed no significant difference between the groups in recovery period, 4 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours after surgery. Regarding p value which was >0.05, pain score in two group has been almost the same.Interval to first analgesic request in Apotel and placebo groups were 254/71-/+28/2 198/28/-+34/2 min, respectively. Considering p value which was<0.05, the interval to first analgesic request in Apotel group has been significantly longer.

Premedication with intravenous paracetamol (Apotel) provided rapid and effective analgesia and was well tolerated. At the same time it reduced opioid consumption during and after orthopedic surgery.