asked 8 months ago
I did a call today where the pt was contraindicated for acetaminophen as she had taken it 3.5 hours prior, however we ended up giving her Toradol IV anyways, as the pt stated when she ingested anything she felt nauseous. Our transport time was over 30mins so my student asked about administering acetaminophen enroute, once the 4 hour time frame was over. He was taught in school that it was ok to administer Toradol and acetaminophen in conjunction with one another. My partner and I both were under the impression that it was ibuprofen and acetaminophen OR Toradol, even though they are 2 different classifications of meds.
1 Answers
answered 7 months ago
Thank you for your question. Ibuprofen and ketorolac (Toradol) are both NSAIDS. The two drugs share all the same indications and contraindications with the one main difference being that Toradol is injectable. NSAIDS have analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory properties due to their suppression of prostaglandin release and other unknown factors. It is this anti-inflammatory effect which makes all NSAIDS potent analgesics.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) has only analgesic and antipyretic properties, it is not an anti-inflammatory. Although both agents are metabolized in the liver, they are done so by different pathways, and so any NSAID and acetaminophen can be taken together for a short, defined period.
There is emerging evidence that NSAIDS and acetaminophen work synergistically when taken together which is why you now see Tylenol with Ibuprofen advertised.
In short acetaminophen can be administered with any NSAID, if there are no contraindications.
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