Intravenous Acetaminophen: Coming to a Hospital Floor Near You

In 2011, an intravenous formulation of acetaminophen was approved for use in the United States. The good news is that this product has been used in Europe for some time so there is experience with it. The bad news is that the experience has not all been good, due to the dosing errors that occur since the solution is 10 mg/ml (not 1 mg/ml). This can result in a serious risk of overdose if not understood when ordering the medication. Dart and Rumack (doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-2345), who are experts in understanding acetaminophen and this new intravenous formulation share with us what we need to know about this product and ways to prevent errors from occurring in a special article being early released this week. This drug will be a lot less painful to deal with from an overdose standpoint if you read this interesting report.