Intravenous vs Oral Acetaminophen for Analgesia After Cesarean Delivery: A Randomized Trial.

OBJECTIVE

Examination of postoperative analgesia with intravenous and oral acetaminophen.

DESIGN

Prospective, three-arm, nonblinded, randomized clinical trial.

SETTING

A single academic medical center.

SUBJECTS

Parturients scheduled for elective cesarean delivery.

METHODS

This trial randomized 141 parturients to receive intravenous acetaminophen (1 g every eight hours, three doses), oral acetaminophen (1 g every eight hours, three doses), or no acetaminophen. All patients received a standardized neuraxial anesthetic with intrathecal opioids and scheduled postoperative ketorolac. The primary outcome, 24-hour opioid consumption, was evaluated using the Kruskal-Wallace test and Tukey-Kramer adjustment for multiple comparisons. Secondary outcomes included 48-hour opioid consumption, first opioid rescue, pain scores, patient satisfaction, times to ambulation and discharge, and side effects.

RESULTS

Over 18 months, 141 parturients with similar demographic variables completed the study. Median (interquartile range) opioid consumption in intravenous morphine milligram equivalents at 24 hours was 0 (5), 0 (7), and 5 (7) for the intravenous, oral, and no groups, respectively, and differed between groups (global P = 0.017). Opioid consumption and other secondary outcomes did not differ between the intravenous vs oral or oral vs no groups. Opioid consumption was reduced at 24 hours with intravenous vs no acetaminophen (P = 0.015). Patients receiving no acetaminophen had 5.8 times the odds of consuming opioids (P = 0.036), consumed 40% more opioids controlling for time (P = 0.041), and had higher pain scores with ambulation (P = 0.004) compared with the intravenous group.

CONCLUSIONS

Intravenous acetaminophen did not reduce 24-hour opioid consumption or other outcomes compared with oral acetaminophen. Intravenous acetaminophen did decrease opioid consumption and pain scores compared with no acetaminophen.