An Open-label Non-randomized Phase IV Trial of the Clinical Efficacy of Intravenously Administered 1000mg Paracetamol as Antipyretic and Analgesic Medication

Although modern therapeutics is targeting at prolongation of survival, despite the underlying illness, it also aims at the improvement of the quality of life. Two major symptoms affect considerably quality of life, fever and pain. Both symptoms are common denominators of a vast number of clinical situations some of which have good prognosis and some of which do not have. Among them situations like infectious diseases, hematologic malignancies, solid tumor malignancies, connective tissue disorders and factors connected to surgical operations predominate. Post-operative pain extents too long and imposes severely on the post-operative course of the patient.

A variety of compounds have been developed for the management of fever and pain, the most successful being non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They exist in a variety of forms for various types of administration. Those administered parenterally are considered more efficacious than those administered orally in terms of the rate of the achieved clinical effect. Furthermore, several conditions necessitate parenteral administration.

Paracetamol is a well-known antipyretic and analgesic compound available for many years for oral administration since intravenous infusion was hampered by water insolubility. Its pro-drug, namely, pro-paracetamol, was applied for intravenous infusion where an amount of 2g was equally potent to 1 g of paracetamol. Pro-paracetamol has been given with success as analgesic medication in women undergoing laparoscopic operation, as antipyretic in patients with hematologic malignancies, as antipyretic in children bearing infectious diseases and as antipyretic in critically ill patients.

Ready-made paracetamol for intravenous infusion has been in the market in some European countries. It has been tested in four clinical trials. In the first trial it was given as post-operative analgesia at a dose of 1g x 4 in 80 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Clinical efficacy was comparable to parecoxib and valdecoxib. In three other studies, it was given as post-operative analgesia after spinal body ectomy and after resection of the third mole providing conflicting results. However, in all the three latter studies, the number of patients given paracetamol was limited.

In Greece, paracetamol for intravenous infusion at vials of 1g/6.7ml is manufactured by the company Uni-Pharma (ΑPOTEL®). Based on: a) the limited number of patients enrolled in the studies mentioned earlier, and b) the application of that form only after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and spinal body ectomy, the present study is aiming to unravel the clinical efficacy of the above formula of 1g intravenous paracetamol as antipyretic and analgesic medication in various medical conditions.