Check out this 5 Minute EMS Review on the topic of the EMS medication Acetaminophen. Learn about its classification, indications for use, mechanism of action, dosage, and contraindications. Check out our YouTube channel page for more videos and different playlists.
Hey guys welcome back for another five minute ems review where we give you short and to the point videos on different ems topics today it’s the ems medication acetaminophen let’s get started acetaminophen perhaps better known by the brand name tylenol is a para aminophenol derivative and this one is a fairly simple medication for us to use due to the simplicity
Of its use for us in ems however at the same time it’s a little bit complicated because as we’ll see here in a minute the mechanism of action for acetaminophen is not a hundred percent understood so we’ll get to that in a minute first let’s remind ourselves that acetaminophen is classified as a non-opioid analgesic or pain reliever that is not narcotic in nature
And it is also class classified as an antipyretic or fever reducer so because of this you will most likely see it appear in both pain control and fever protocol so you’ll see uses available for both of those functions now as we said earlier its mechanism of action is not 100 understood as for the analgesic effects or the pain control effects among other things
It’s thought to be due to the inhibition of the enzyme cyclooxygenase and what cyclooxygenase does for us is it it is involved in the formation of prostaglandins and so it’s through the blocking of the enzyme cyclooxygenase where we can then in turn inhibit the formation of prostaglandins and that is where one of the ways in which acetaminophen is thought to
Help us with our analgesic effects now in addition we said that it is antipyretic it has anti-fever properties so the mechanism of action there is also through the blocking of the formation of prostaglandins in the central nervous system but it also has a feature where the medication helps to block pyrogens or fever producing substances at the hypothalamus in the
Brain so again fever control and pain control for us now unlike aspirin which has some anti-platelet characteristics tylenol really does not have any significant anti-platelet characteristics for us so we’re not going to see it used in our cardiac protocols like we would see aspirin in addition it is not a significant anti-inflammatory drug either so just a few
Caveats there now some cautions acetaminophen can be toxic to the liver at high enough doses so we want to avoid giving it to patients who have chronic liver disease and we also want to avoid giving it to alcoholics because of the effect of the long-term alcohol use on the patient’s liver now there is an overdose antidote for acetaminophen called acetylcysteine
Or mucomist so that is something that should be available at the hospital if it is a large enough overdose of acetaminophen and the hospital deems the circumstances fitting to use that antidote so just be aware that there is an available antidote for acetaminophen in an overdose situation now for us an ems doses are going to vary make sure you consult your local
Protocol typically we’re seeing a basic dose range for adults around 325 to 650 milligrams po now we also are going to have tylenol available in the pediatric population as well usually in a liquid format or perhaps in somewhat older children still in that po medication route and that is usually in 15 milligrams of acetaminophen per kilogram of body weight so
That would be our pediatric dose now we also do have acetaminophen available in an iv and a rectal suppository form and as well as we already mentioned the the children’s liquid forms so be on the lookout in your local ems agency and local hospitals for how exactly that medication is supplied and that does it for us today for acetaminophen i hope this helped
Unpack it a little bit for you if you’ve enjoyed our channel we would love it if you would share it with other colleagues and ems students who may find it useful and stay tuned for future videos we do have a playlist on our youtube channel that is uh covering all of the different ems medications for us so if you’d like to dig into some other ems medications be
Sure to check that playlist out thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next time you
Transcribed from video
5 Minute EMS Review: Acetaminophen | EMS Pharmacology By 5 Minute EMS ReviewliveBroadcastDetails{isLiveNowfalsestartTimestamp2021-01-13T225737+0000endTimestamp2021-01-13T230505+0000}
