Postoperative around-the-clock administration of intravenous acetaminophen for pain control following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of around-the-clock (ATC) administration of intravenous (IV) acetaminophen following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Intravenous infusion of acetaminophen was started on the day of the operation at 1000 mg/dose every 6 h, and the infusion was continued on a fixed schedule until postoperative day 2 a.m. In a retrospective observational study, we compared 127 patients who were administered IV acetaminophen on a fixed schedule (ATC group) with 485 patients who were administered analgesic drugs only as needed (PRN group). We investigated postoperative pain intensity and additional analgesic consumption on postoperative day 0, 1, 2, 3, and 5 between the two groups. Postoperative pain scores were significantly lower in the ATC group than in the PRN group at 1 and 2 days, and this period matched the duration of ATC administration of IV acetaminophen. Postoperative frequency of rescue analgesia was significantly lower in the ATC group than in the PRN group at postoperative 0, 1, and 2 days. ATC administration of IV acetaminophen has the potential to be a very versatile and valuable additional dose to achieve appropriate postoperative analgesia in patients with RARP.