Acetaminophen Versus Ibuprofen to Treat Fever

Acetaminophen versus Ibuprofen to Treat Fever

August 8, 2011

NR 322 Family Health- Children

Acetaminophen versus Ibuprofen to Treat Fever

When a child becomes ill with fever, there are many things that run through a parents mind, relating to why the child has this fever through to how will I treat this fever. Being a parent already has many hard decisions in itself with choosing their name, where to live, what they should wear or what school they should attend, it should not have to also be a tough decision to decide how to treat their fevers when they become ill.

A classic question asked by many parents across the United States is, "Which is more effective for the treatment of my child's fever, Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen?" Over the years, much research has been done to help try to answer this frequently asked question. There may not be a specific medication that is per say "better" for the treatment of fever, but the question to be answered is which medication is more effective in lowering a child's fever more quickly.

The clinical question is whether parents should choose Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen for the efficient treatment of fever.

P- Children ages 12 months to 5 years

I- Ibuprofen

C- Acetaminophen

O- Effective/Faster fever reduction

Population Studied

The population that was studied was children ages of 12 months to 5 years of age. To begin with the age of 12 months was decided because of the fact that safety regulations do not recommend the administration of ibuprofen to children under the age of 12 months. I have decided to bring a close on my age group at 5 years because I wanted to have an age group that could have enough research to come up with a determination, but yet did not give too broad of an age spectrum.

Intervention

According to Medline Plus, Ibuprofen is a non-steroid anti-inflammatory medication that is used for the reduction of inflammation or pain, and most known in the pediatric world for the treatment of fevers. Ibuprofen works by inhibiting an enzyme in our body called enzyme cyclooxygenase. This enzyme is the enzyme in our bodies that is responsible for the transmission of the feeling of pain. So by inhibiting this enzyme, we do not feel the pain that is transmitted through our bodies, and also it acts to reduce fevers.

Ibuprofen is generally considered very safe to use in infants and children. There are minimal side-effect concerns in a healthy child. Ibuprofen is said to work faster and work longer by starting to take effect within 30 minutes and lasting for up to 6 hours. Compared with Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen works a little faster, lasts a little longer, and seems to bring a fever down farther (Ibuprofen, 2011).

According to research done by Dr. David Perrott, PhD., they have found that a single dose of ibuprofen did a better job at reducing fever than a single dose of acetaminophen when measured two, four, and six hours after taking the medications. They also found that the superiority of ibuprofen over acetaminophen for reducing fever was even more pronounced four and six hours after taking the medication than it was two hours after. (Perrott, D. 2011).

Comparison Intervention

Acetaminophen is also known as Tylenol, which is a paracetamol. Acetaminophen is an antipyretic and non-opioid analgesic that can be compared to aspirin. Acetaminophen acts in the same way as ibuprofen does in the fact that it inhibits inhibiting an enzyme in our body called enzyme cyclooxygenase which in turn blocks our bodies from feeling pain. But acetaminophen is considered to be