Efficacy of Intravenous Paracetamol Versus Intravenous Morphine in Acute Limb Trauma

Efficient pain management is one of the most important components of care in the field of emergency medicine. This study was conducted to compare intravenous paracetamol and intravenous morphine sulfate for acute pain reduction in patients with limb trauma. In a randomized double-blinded clinical trial, all patients (aged 18 years and older) with acute limb trauma and a pain score of greater than 3/10 in the emergency department were recruited; they received either 1 g intravenous paracetamol or 0.1 mg/kg intravenous morphine sulfate over 15 minutes. The primary outcome was the pain score measured on a numerical rating scale at 0, 15 and 30 minutes after commencing drug administration. The requirement for rescue analgesia and the frequency of adverse reactions were also recorded. Sixty patients randomly received either IV paracetamol (n = 30) or IV morphine (n = 30). The mean reduction in numerical rating scale pain intensity scores at 30 minutes was 3.86 (± 1.61) for paracetamol, and 2.16 (± 1.39) for morphine. However, pain relief was significantly higher in the paracetamol group compared to the morphine group (P < 0.001). Four patients in the paracetamol group and 15 patients in the morphine group needed rescue analgesia and the difference was significant (P = 0.05). Intravenous paracetamol appears to provide better analgesia than intravenous morphine in acute limb trauma. Further larger studies are required.