Intravenous paracetamol as a preemptive analgesia to reduce postoperative pain after major oncologic surgery

Background and purpose: Adequate postoperative pain management, intended not only to facilitate surgery, but also to prevent development of chronic pain, remains the prime concern of the anesthesiologists. Intravenous administration of paracetamol as preemptive analgesia for general surgery has not shown consistent outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of paracetamol as a preemptive analgesia in patients undergoing a major oncologic surgery. Methodology: Subjects were patients undergoing major oncology surgery with the criteria of mild to moderate pain. Forty patients involved in the study were divided into a control group (n = 20) of patients not administered with preemptive analgesia and a group of patients who received intravenous paracetamol as a preemptive analgesia (n = 20). Pain intensity was measured by the visual analog scale and analgesic consumption was recorded. Results: In the group administered with intravenous paracetamol, there was a significant decline in the visual analog scores and analgesic consumption as compared to the control group not administered with intravenous paracetamol (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Administration of intravenous paracetamol at certain doses was capable of suppressing post-major oncologic surgery pain and analgesic consumption. Thus, paracetamol infusion could be used as a preemptive analgesic for major oncologic surgery.