Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26678710›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2015

The Effect of Paracetamol on Core Body Temperature in Acute Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomised, Controlled Clinical Trial.

Manoj K Saxena, Colman Taylor, Laurent Billot, Severine Bompoint, John Gowardman, Jason A Roberts, Jeffery Lipman, John Myburgh

Open access · goldAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Observational
  6. Article
  7. Fever control.Intensive care medicine · 2018
    Article
  8. Should we treat pyrexia? And how do we do it?Critical care (London, England) · 2016
    Review
  9. Pyrexia: aetiology in the ICU.Critical care (London, England) · 2016
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Manoj K SaxenaDivision of Critical Care and Trauma Division, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Colman TaylorDivision of Critical Care and Trauma Division, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Laurent BillotUniversity of Sydney, Sydney Medical School, New South Wales, Australia.
Severine BompointStatistics Division, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
John GowardmanDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
Jason A RobertsDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
Jeffery LipmanDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
John MyburghDivision of Critical Care and Trauma Division, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The George Institute for Global Health · AURoyal Brisbane and Women's Hospital · AUQueensland University of Technology · AUSt George Hospital · AUUniversity of Sydney · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundStrategies to prevent pyrexia in patients with acute neurological injury may reduce secondary neuronal damage. The aim of this study was to determine the safety and efficacy of the routine administration of 6 grams/day of intravenous paracetamol in reducing body temperature following severe traumatic brain injury, compared to placebo.

methodsA multicentre, randomised, blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in adult patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Patients were randomised to receive an intravenous infusion of either 1g of paracetamol or 0.9% sodium chloride (saline) every 4 hours for 72 hours. The primary outcome was the mean difference in core temperature during the study intervention period.

resultsForty-one patients were included in this study: 21 were allocated to paracetamol and 20 to saline. The median (interquartile range) number of doses of study drug was 18 (17-18) in the paracetamol group and 18 (16-18) in the saline group (P = 0.85). From randomisation until 4 hours after the last dose of study treatment, there were 2798 temperature measurements (median 73 [67-76] per patient). The mean ± standard deviation temperature was 37.4±0.5°C in the paracetamol group and 37.7±0.4°C in the saline group (absolute difference -0.3°C; 95% confidence interval -0.6 to 0.0; P = 0.09). There were no significant differences in the use of physical cooling, or episodes of hypotension or hepatic abnormalities, between the two groups.

conclusionThe routine administration of 6g/day of intravenous paracetamol did not significantly reduce core body temperature in patients with TBI.

trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12609000444280.

Indexed as

AcetaminophenAdultAntipyreticsBody TemperatureBrain InjuriesDouble-Blind MethodFemaleFeverHumansInfusions, IntravenousMaleAcetaminophenAntipyretics

Identifiers

PMID26678710
PMCPMC4683067
OpenAlexW2202200676

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.