IV and oral acetaminophen

Q: Intravenous (IV) acetaminophen has better efficacy than oral acetaminophen for perioperative pain?

A) True

B) False

Answer: B

IV acetaminophen's only advantage is its quick onset of action within 5-10 minutes. Oral acetaminophen may take up to an hour for a proper analgesic effect. IV and oral acetaminophen have similar efficacy of analgesia to relieve perioperative pain.

Due to massive differences in cost, the oral form is preferred.

#pharmacology

#surgical-critical-care

Reference:

1. Jibril F, Sharaby S, Mohamed A, Wilby KJ. Intravenous versus Oral Acetaminophen for Pain: Systematic Review of Current Evidence to Support Clinical Decision-Making. Can J Hosp Pharm 2015; 68:238.

2. Plunkett A, Haley C, McCoart A, et al. A Preliminary Examination of the Comparative Efficacy of Intravenous vs Oral Acetaminophen in the Treatment of Perioperative Pain. Pain Med 2017; 18:2466.

3. Hickman SR, Mathieson KM, Bradford LM, et al. Randomized trial of oral versus intravenous acetaminophen for postoperative pain control. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2018; 75:367.