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  • Increased Postoperative Opi...
    Ratajczak, Nikolai; Munoz-Acuna, Ricardo; Redaelli, Simone; Suleiman, Aiman; Seibold, Eva-Lotte; von Wedel, Dario; Shay, Denys; Ashrafian, Sarah; Chen, Guanqing; Sundar, Eswar; Ahrens, Elena; Wachtendorf, Luca J.; Schaefer, Maximilian S.

    Anesthesiology (Philadelphia), 08/2024, Volume: 141, Issue: 2
    Journal Article

    Background Acetaminophen and 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonists are administered as standard prophylaxes for postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting. Preclinical studies, however, suggest that 5-HT3 antagonists may compromise acetaminophen’s analgesic effect. This hospital registry study investigates whether 5-HT3 antagonists mitigate the analgesic effect of prophylactic acetaminophen in a perioperative setting. Methods This study included 55,016 adult patients undergoing general anesthesia for ambulatory procedures at a tertiary healthcare center in Massachusetts from 2015 to 2022. Using binary exposure variables and a comprehensive selection of preplanned patient- and procedure-related covariates for confounder control, the authors investigated whether intraoperative 5-HT3 antagonists affected the association between pre- or intraoperative acetaminophen and postoperative opioid consumption, gauged by opioid dose in milligram oral morphine equivalents (OME) administered in the postanesthesia care unit. A multivariable, zero-inflated negative binomial regression model was applied. Results A total of 3,166 patients (5.8%) received only acetaminophen, 15,438 (28.1%) only 5-HT3 antagonists, 31,850 (57.9%) both drugs, and 4,562 (8.3%) neither drug. The median postanesthesia care unit opioid dose was 7.5 mg OME (interquartile range, 7.5 to 14.3 mg OME) among 16,640 of 55,016 (30.2%) patients who received opioids, and the mean opioid dose was 3.2 mg OME across all patients (maximum cumulative dose, 20.4 mg OME). Acetaminophen administration was associated with a –5.5% (95% CI, –9.6 to –1.4%; P = 0.009; adjusted absolute difference, –0.19 mg OME; 95% CI, –0.33 to –0.05; P = 0.009) reduction in opioid consumption among patients who did not receive a 5-HT3 antagonist, while there was no effect in patients who received a 5-HT3 antagonist (adjusted absolute difference, 0.00 mg OME; 95% CI, –0.06 to 0.05; P = 0.93; P for interaction = 0.013). Conclusions A dose-dependent association of pre- or intraoperative acetaminophen with decreased postoperative opioid consumption was not observed when 5-HT3 antagonists were coadministered, suggesting that physicians might consider reserving 5-HT3 antagonists as rescue medication for postoperative nausea or vomiting when acetaminophen is administered for pain prophylaxis. Editor’s Perspective What We Already Know about This Topic What This Article Tells Us That Is New