Suzuki et al. Critical Care (2015) 19:162 DOI 10.1186/s13054-015-0865-1

RESEARCH

Open Access

Paracetamol therapy and outcome of critically ill patients: a multicenter retrospective observational study Satoshi Suzuki1,2, Glenn M Eastwood1, Michael Bailey3, David Gattas4, Peter Kruger5, Manoj Saxena6, John D Santamaria7 and Rinaldo Bellomo1,3*

Abstract Introduction: In this study, we aimed to examine the association between paracetamol administration in the intensive care unit (ICU) and mortality in critically ill patients. Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective observational study in four ICUs. We obtained information on paracetamol use, body temperature, demographic, clinical and outcome data from each hospital’s clinical information system and admissions and discharges database. We performed statistical analysis to assess the association between paracetamol administration and hospital mortality. Results: We studied 15,818 patients with 691,348 temperature measurements at 4 ICUs. Of these patients, 10,046 (64%) received at least 1 g of paracetamol. Patients who received paracetamol had lower in-hospital mortality (10% vs. 20%, P