Introduction: We sought to compare antiemetic use after acetaminophen poisoning in patients treated with oral or intravenous (IV) N-acetylcysteine (NAC).Methods: Our retrospective chart review identified 20 orally treated patients and 17 IV-treated patients. For both groups, we calculated the total number of antiemetic doses given, their associated cost, and also determined parameters that correlated with antiemetic use.Results: IV-treated patients received fewer total antiemetic doses than those receiving oral NAC (1.1 Ϯ 0.2 vs. 2.8 Ϯ0.7; P ϭ0.04). Antiemetic cost correlated with doses received for both groups; however, because the regression lines differed (P ϭ0.02), antiemetic therapy cost was less in IV-treated patients. In addition, serum acetaminophen concentration correlated with total antiemetic doses in oral NAC patients (P Ͻ0.002) but not with IV treatment patients (P ϭ0.78).Conclusions: Intravenous NAC reduced antiemetic utilization, and it costs less than oral therapy. Furthermore, antiemetic use appeared to be determined by a combination of acetaminophen concentration and NAC administration route.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.