Paracetamol: a study found that it is effective for …

A study in Australia found that paracetamol is only effective for treating pain in very few medical conditions, and even then, its effect is usually mild. According to research from the University of Sydney, although has been shown to be of great help for certain discomforts, such as those caused by osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, it turned out, on the contrary, ineffective for other affections, in particular lumbar.

In an article in the Medical Journal of Australia, researchers at the University of Sydney looked at “the efficacy and safety of acetaminophen for pain relief” under 44 conditions. To do this, they conducted “randomized placebo-controlled trials”.

It was then that they discovered, to the surprise of many, that paracetamol was not more effective for certain pains than placebo. “Although paracetamol is widely used, its effectiveness in relieving pain has only been established for a handful of conditions and its benefits are often modest“, Said the specialists.

“High or moderate quality evidence that acetaminophen (typically 0.5-1g, single or multiple doses) is superior to placebo for pain relief was available for only 4 of 44 painful conditions examined “, They stressed.

When its use is effective

According to the researchers, there was “high quality” evidence on the effectiveness of acetaminophen in the treatment osteoarthritis of the knee and osteoarthritis of the hip, and there was “ moderate quality ” evidence for its effect in postpartum perineal pain early “and in” relief of pain in people episodic tension headache“.

On the contrary, the study found low efficacy of paracetamol to treat acute low back pain. This drug has also been shown not to be effective in relieving sore throat during colds, migraines in children and adolescents, and pain after dental surgery in children.

In the case of postoperative pain, chronic low back pain, endodontic surgery pain and abdominal pain, the results were inconclusive.

The study included 1,652 people with acute low back pain who were treated in 235 primary care centers in Sydney. Patients were batched into three groups and followed for three months.

The first group received regular doses of paracetamol (3 times a day for up to 4 weeks), the second took it as needed (maximum dose 4 g / day) and the third took placebo tablets.

The results obtained, in this sense, would demonstrate the low efficacy of paracetamol to treat acute low back pain: the average recovery times were 17 days for the first two groups and one day less for the placebo group.

New surveys

To reduce uncertainty about the scope of this drug, specialists have recognized, it will be necessary new tests more widely deployed, since “the evidence for the efficacy of paracetamol under most conditions the pain is of low quality or inconclusive, and for the four conditions for which there is high or moderate evidence of efficacy, the benefit is minimal. “

The findings of this study, they added, “are largely drawn from trials that have evaluated the effects of single doses.” Therefore, “investigations of multiple dosing regimens are needed, reflecting current practice,” they said.