title: Can intravenous acetaminophen reduce the needs to more opioids to control pain in intubated patients?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of intravenous (IV) acetaminophen on reducing the need for morphine sulfate in intubated patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
  
  
  METHODS
  Current study was done as a clinical trial on the patients supported by mechanical ventilator.
  
  
  METHODS
  Behavioral pain scale (BPS) scoring system was used to measure pain in the patients. All of the patients received 1 g, IV acetaminophen, every 6 h during the 1(st) and 3(rd) days of admission and placebo during the 2(nd) and 4(th) days. Total dose of morphine sulfate needed, its complications, and the BPS scores at the end of every 6 h interval were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally forty patients were enrolled. The mean pain scores were significantly lower in the 2(nd) and 4(th) days (4.33 and 3.66, respectively; mean: 4.0) in which the patients had received just morphine sulfate compared to the 1(st) and 3(rd) days (7.36 and 3.93, respectively; mean: 5.65) in which the patients had received acetaminophen in addition to morphine sulfate too (P < 0.001). Cumulative dose of morphine sulfate used, was significantly higher in the 1(st) and 3(rd) days (8.92 and 3.15 mg, respectively; 12.07 mg in total) compared to the 2(nd) and 4(th) days (6.47 mg and 3.22 mg, respectively; 9.7 mg in total) (P = 0.035).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our study, IV acetaminophen had no effect on decreasing the BPSs and need of morphine sulfate in intubated patients admitted to ICU.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Management Research Center, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mahshidfar
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Management Research Center, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Azadeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sameti
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Management Research Center, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Management Research Center, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Davood
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Farsi
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Management Research Center, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mani
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mofidi
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Management Research Center, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Peyman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hafezimoghadam
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Iran university of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Popak
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rahimzadeh
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Management Research Center, Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rezai
keywords: Acetaminophen; Intensive Care Unit; analgesia; intubated patient; morphine sulfate; pain