Evaluating the effectiveness of single-dose intravenous paracetamol for pain management across different diagnoses in the emergency department

<p><strong>Objective:</strong> This study aimed to describe the real‑world effect of a single 1 g intravenous (IV) paracetamol dose across a broad mix of emergency department (ED) presentations in the current study setting.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> A prospective observational pre&ndash;post study of 200 adults was conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah. Pain was measured before administration and again 30 minutes to 4 hours later using the Numeric Rating Scale and Wong‑Baker FACES scale.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> The study population comprised 200 emergency department patients with a male predominance (60.5% vs. 39.5% female). The cohort had a mean age of 37.3 years (SD 14.1). Notably, 47.0% of patients had no documented comorbidities. Both pain assessment scales demonstrated statistically significant reductions in pain scores following single-dose intravenous paracetamol administration (p &lt; 0.001). The statistical significance (Z = -12.51, p &lt; 0.001) confirmed the consistent analgesic effect across both measurement scales. Patients with chest pain had smaller reductions, while those with flank pain showed greater reductions. The<br />multiple linear regression analysis reinforced that paracetamol&rsquo;s analgesic efficacy appeared independent of basic demographic characteristics.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> The single‑dose IV paracetamol produced meaningful pain relief across common presentations. The degree of improvement differed by complaint, highlighting the importance of multimodal, diagnosis‑specific strategies.</p>