title: Comparison between two intraoperative intravenous loading doses of paracetamol on pain after minor hand surgery: two grams versus one gram.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is widely used for postoperative analgesia at a recommended dose of 1 g every six hours in adult patients. Increasing the loading dose to 2 g was suggested to improve immediate postoperative analgesia without increased toxicity in healthy adult patients. We tested the hypothesis that a loading dose of 2 g of intravenous paracetamol results in better postoperative analgesia after surgery as compared with a dose of 1 g.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty adult patients scheduled for minor hand surgery under intravenous regional anaesthesia were randomized into two groups. The first group received 1 g of intravenous paracetamol before surgery while the second group received 2 g. Verbal numeric pain score, analgesic consumption, first night sleep quality, and patient's satisfaction were recorded during the first 24 hours.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Verbal numeric pain scores during the first 24 hours after surgery were significantly lower in the 2 g paracetamol group as compared to the 1 g paracetamol group. No differences were found between the two groups with regard to rescue analgesic consumption, sleep quality and patient's satisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An intraoperative loading dose of 2 g paracetamol improves postoperative analgesia after minor hand surgery as compared to 1 g paracetamol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Cliniques Saint-Joseph de Liège, Centre Hospitalier Chrétien de Liège, Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cornesse
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Senard
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Hans
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ledoux
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kirsch
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hick
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hallet
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Joris
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000601:surgery*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013581:Synovial Cyst / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D000082:Acetaminophen