PARACETAMOL

PARACETAMOL

Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen or APAP, is a medication used to treat pain and fever. It is typically used for mild to moderate pain. The quality of the evidence regarding the use for fever relief in children is poor. It is often sold in combination with other ingredients such as in many cold medications. In combination with opioid pain medication, paracetamol is also used for more severe pain such as cancer pain and pain after surgery. It is typically used either by mouth or rectally but is also available intravenously. Effects last between two and four hours.

Paracetamol is generally safe at recommended doses. Serious skin rashes may rarely occur, and too high a dose can result in liver failure. It appears to be safe during pregnancy and when breastfeeding. In those with liver disease, it may still be used, but in lower doses. Paracetamol is classified as a mild analgesic. It does not have significant anti-inflammatory activity and how it works is not entirely clear.

Medical uses

Fever

Paracetamol is used for reducing fever in people of all ages. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that paracetamol be used to treat fever in children only if their temperature is greater than 38.5 °C (101.3 °F). The efficacy of paracetamol by itself in children with fevers has been questioned and a meta-analysis showed that it is less effective than ibuprofen.

Pain

Paracetamol is used for the relief of mild to moderate pain. The use of the intravenous form for pain of sudden onset in people in the emergency department is supported by limited evidence.

Osteoarthritis

The American College of Rheumatology recommends paracetamol as one of several treatment options for people with arthritis pain of the hip, hand, or knee that does not improve with exercise and weight loss. A 2015 review, however, found it provided only a small benefit in osteoarthritis.

Paracetamol has relatively little anti-inflammatory activity, unlike other common analgesics such as the NSAIDs aspirin and ibuprofen, but ibuprofen and paracetamol have similar effects in the treatment of headache. Paracetamol can relieve pain in mild arthritis, but has no effect on the underlying inflammation, redness, and swelling of the joint. It has analgesic properties comparable to those of aspirin, while its anti-inflammatory effects are weaker. It is better tolerated than aspirin due to concerns about bleeding with aspirin.

Low back pain

Based on a systematic review, paracetamol is recommended by the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society as a first-line treatment for low back pain. In contrast, other systematic reviews have concluded that evidence for its efficacy is lacking.

Headaches

A joint statement of the German, Austrian, and Swiss headache societies and the German Society of Neurology recommends the use of paracetamol in combination with caffeine as one of several first line therapies for treatment of tension or migraine headache.In the treatment of acute migraine, it is superior to placebo, with 39% of people experiencing pain relief at one hour compared with 20% in the control group.

Postoperative pain

Paracetamol combined with NSAIDs may be more effective for treating postoperative pain than either paracetamol alone or NSAIDs alone