Clinical Significance

Acetaminophen is one of several popular non-prescription pain relievers available to the public. It has analgesic and antipyretic effects like aspirin, but little of aspirin’s anti-inflammatory effects. Serum levels are not typically monitored during therapeutic dosing, but because the drug is sold alone or in combination with other compounds in over two hundred products, acetaminophen is frequently seen in overdose cases. Excessive doses of acetaminophen can cause toxic effects with the most common being hepatotoxicity. The drug may also cause acute tubular necrosis, pancreatitis, and myocardial necrosis. Diagnosis of acetaminophen overdose can be determined by measuring the circulating levels of acetaminophen in order that treatment can be initiated.