Hydromorphone vs. Acetaminophen

Go figure: Hydromorphone is a stronger pain reliever than acetaminophen.

To find out if hydromorphone is a stronger pain reliever than acetaminophen, investigators randomized 220 emergency departments patients with “severe acute pain” to 1 mg intravenous hydromorphone or 1000 mg intravenous acetaminophen.

Results were available for 103 patients in each group. Hydromorphone was a significantly stronger pain reliever, with a mean decrease in the pain rating on a 10-point numeric scale of 5.3, versus 3.3 points with acetaminophen. The hydromorphone group had more nausea (19% vs. 3%) and vomiting (14% vs. 3%).

Reviewing Author

Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education

Grant/Research SupportAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality; CDC; NIH–National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; NIH–National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); NIH–NIAID–Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group; Merck; Pfizer; Boehringer-Ingelheim; Shire; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novartis; bioMérieux; Siemens; Rapid Pathogen Screening; Magnolia; Stago; Innovative Biosensors; Molecular Detection, Inc.; Dyax Corp.; Trius Pharmaceuticals

Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardPortola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Speaker’s BureauPeerView Institute for Medical Education

Hydromorphone vs. Acetaminophen

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Reviewing Author