A study on post-partum pain from the 1980s? Try this one, a meta-analysis from 2000 on post-op pain: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10796810 http://www.ncb

A study on post-partum pain from the 1980s? Try this one, a meta-analysis from 2000 on post-op pain: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10796810 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10796810 Acetaminophen is effective. Most professional guidelines on analgesia recommend the use of acetaminophen in addition to opioid analgesia. The useful and perhaps unique thing about acetaminophen among pain killers is that it is well tolerated. Almost everybody from little kids to the very elderly can down acetaminophen without too many problems. This is certainly not the case with opioids. Dizziness, lightheadedness, feeling spaced out, nausea, vomiting, constipation, allergic reactions are not uncommon with these compounds, not to mention variability in effectiveness. It is true that the majority of acetaminophen overdoses are accidental, which suggests that there is a major problem with how we distribute and use this drug. However most health professionals would take issue with describing it as a hepatotoxin. The large number of ER visits etc reflects the widespread use and easy availability of paracetamol. For example, where I work, there are at least as many presentations due to alcohol abuse (which is also available 'over the counter') as there are for paracetamol. The funny thing about the article that triggered this thread is that your well-educated person with post-op pain is probably the ideal group to be using acetaminophen and opioid combinations.