Clinically Effective Implementation Of Intravenous Paracetamol As Primary Analgesia After Major Surgery In Neonates And Young Infants

We previously showed that intravenous paracetamol as primary analgesic after major non-cardiac (laparotomy or thoracotomy) surgery in infants u003c1 year of age reduces postoperative morphine consumption by 66% when compared with continuous intravenous morphine.1 Implementation of trial results is often challenging due to barriers such as low acceptance by healthcare professionals, lack of motivation and lack of awareness.2 Given the morphine-sparing effects of intravenous paracetamol we implemented intravenous paracetamol into our hospital’s clinical practice. We now present the real-life efficacy of intravenous paracetamol for this indication and adherence to the new postoperative pain protocol.The setting for this observational study was a tertiary care paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). In our new postoperative pain protocol, starting from January 2014, intravenous paracetamol is the primary analgesic (figure …