Via practica 6/2012
How to increase analgesic efficacy of paracetamol?
A usual single dose of paracetamol (500 mg per os) represents a subthreshold dose (< 10 mg/kg) in patiens with body weight over 50 kg (i. e. in most adults). A single dose of 1 g of paracetamol is therefore recommended in patients over 60 kg in weight. If paracetamol does not inhibit pain sufficiently even at this dose (1 g), then another analgesic is to be selected or combinations of paracetamol with other drugs can be used, e. g. those with opioids, NSAIDs (if possible), caffeine or others. Sometimes it may be helpful to speed up absorption of paracetamol by using effervescent or well soluble paracetamol preparations per os.
Keywords: paracetamol (acetaminophen), pain, dosage, plasma concentrations, analgesic combinations.
