PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Brett Doleman AU - David Read AU - Jonathan N. Lund AU - John P. Williams TI - Preventive Acetaminophen Reduces Postoperative Opioid Consumption, Vomiting, and Pain Scores After Surgery: <em>Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis</em> AID - 10.1097/AAP.0000000000000311 DP - 2015 Nov 01 TA - Regional Anesthesia &amp; Pain Medicine PG - 706--712 VI - 40 IP - 6 4099 - http://rapm.bmj.com/content/40/6/706.short 4100 - http://rapm.bmj.com/content/40/6/706.full SO - Reg Anesth Pain Med2015 Nov 01; 40 AB - Background and Objectives Preventive analgesia has been proposed as a potential strategy to reduce postoperative pain. However, there is currently no review that focuses on acetaminophen for preventive analgesia.Methods We conducted a search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cinahl, AMED, and CENTRAL databases identifying randomized controlled trials that compared preventive acetaminophen with postincision acetaminophen.Results Seven studies with 544 participants were included. Overall, the studies showed a reduction in 24-hour opioid consumption (standardized mean difference [SMD] of −0.52; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], −0.98 to −0.06), lower pain scores at 1 hour (MD, −0.50; 95% CI, −0.98 to −0.02) and 2 hours (MD, −0.34; 95% CI, −0.67 to −0.01), and a lower incidence of postoperative vomiting (risk ratio, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.31–0.83) in the preventive acetaminophen group. Current studies are limited by a potential risk of bias.Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first review to describe a potential preventive effect of acetaminophen. However, well-conducted randomized controlled trials are necessary to substantiate the conclusions of this review.