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Acetaminophen for Fever in Critically Ill Patients with Suspected Infection.
- Source :
-
New England Journal of Medicine . 12/3/2015, Vol. 373 Issue 23, p2215-2224. 10p. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- <bold>Background: </bold>Acetaminophen is a common therapy for fever in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) who have probable infection, but its effects are unknown.<bold>Methods: </bold>We randomly assigned 700 ICU patients with fever (body temperature, ≥38°C) and known or suspected infection to receive either 1 g of intravenous acetaminophen or placebo every 6 hours until ICU discharge, resolution of fever, cessation of antimicrobial therapy, or death. The primary outcome was ICU-free days (days alive and free from the need for intensive care) from randomization to day 28.<bold>Results: </bold>The number of ICU-free days to day 28 did not differ significantly between the acetaminophen group and the placebo group: 23 days (interquartile range, 13 to 25) among patients assigned to acetaminophen and 22 days (interquartile range, 12 to 25) among patients assigned to placebo (Hodges-Lehmann estimate of absolute difference, 0 days; 96.2% confidence interval [CI], 0 to 1; P=0.07). A total of 55 of 345 patients in the acetaminophen group (15.9%) and 57 of 344 patients in the placebo group (16.6%) had died by day 90 (relative risk, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.66 to 1.39; P=0.84).<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Early administration of acetaminophen to treat fever due to probable infection did not affect the number of ICU-free days. (Funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and others; HEAT Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12612000513819.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00284793
- Volume :
- 373
- Issue :
- 23
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 111378653
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1508375