Summary of findings 6. Opioid consumption (IV morphine equivalents) over 6 hours.
| IV paracetamol/propacetamol compared to placebo or other analgesics for postoperative pain | |||
| Patient or population: patients with postoperative pain Settings: hospital Intervention: IV paracetamol/propacetamol Comparison: placebo or other analgesics | |||
| Outcomes | Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI) | No of participants (studies) | Quality of the evidence (GRADE) |
| Para/propacetamol vs placebo see footnote1 | The mean opioid consumption (IV morphine equivalents) over 6 hours was: 1.92 lower (2.41 to 1.42 lower) | 777 (13 studies) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝ moderate2,3 |
| Paracetamol vs placebo see footnote1 | The mean opioid consumption (IV morphine equivalents) over 6 hours was: 1.83 lower (2.35 to 1.31 lower) | 404 (8 studies) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ low2,3,4 |
| Propacetamol vs placebo see footnote1 | The mean opioid consumption (IV morphine equivalents) over 6 hours was: 2.67 lower (4.21 to 1.13 lower) | 373 (6 studies) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ low2,4,5 |
| Para/propacetamol vs NSAIDs see footnote1 | The mean opioid consumption (IV morphine equivalents) over 6 hours was: 0.12 lower (0.37 lower to 0.12 higher) | 540 (8 studies) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ very low2,3,6 |
| Paracetamol vs NSAIDs see footnote1 | The mean opioid consumption (IV morphine equivalents) over 6 hours was: 0.81 higher (0.87 lower to 2.49 higher) | 160 (3 studies) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ very low3,5,6,7 |
| Propacetamol vs NSAIDs see footnote1 | The mean opioid consumption (IV morphine equivalents) over 6 hours was: 0.14 lower (0.39 lower to 0.11 higher) | 380 (5 studies) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ very low5,6,7 |
| *The basis for the assumed risk (e.g. the median control group risk across studies) is provided in footnotes. The corresponding risk (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: confidence interval; NSAIDs: nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs | |||
| GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High quality: Further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect. Moderate quality: Further research is likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate. Low quality: Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate. Very low quality: We are very uncertain about the estimate. | |||
1Mean opioid consumption (in mg) over 6 hours in each treatment arm converted into IV morphine‐equivalents, using commonly used and widely accepted opioid conversion tables. 2See 'Risk of bias' tables: several unclear assessments related to randomization, unclear risk for selective reporting. 3Majority of all individual studies had < 100 participants. 4Considerable unexplained heterogeneity exists between studies. 5Total population size < 400. 6Different NSAIDs studied. 7Wide confidence interval that includes no effect and appreciable benefit and/or harm.