Recent findings from an NIH-supported trial indicate that intravenous acetaminophen may help reduce organ injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome in sepsis patients, particularly those at severe risk. The study suggests potential benefits in using acetaminophen for critically ill patients, though further research is required. A clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has discovered that administering acetaminophen intravenously can lower the risk of organ damage and the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients with sepsis.
Sepsis is characterized by the body’s overwhelming and uncontrolled response to an infection. While the trial did not improve mortality rates in all patients with sepsis regardless of severity, the researchers found that acetaminophen gave the greatest benefit to the patients most at risk for organ damage. With the therapy, those patients needed less assisted ventilation and experienced a slight, though statistically insignificant, decrease in mortality.
The study was published in JAMA . In sepsis, red blood cells become injured and die at abnormally high rates, releasing so called “cell-free hemoglobin” into the blood. The body becomes overwhelmed and can’t remove this excess hemoglobin which can lead to organ damage.
Previous work from Lorraine Ware, M.D., professor of medicine, pulmonary and critical care at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and the first author of the cur.
