Multiple-dose pharmacokinetics of rectally administered acetaminophen in term infants

Objective: To investigate pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of rectally administered acetaminophen (INN, paracetamol) in term neonates directly af ter birth. Methods: In this prospective clinical trial, term neonates with painful con ditions or who were undergoing painful procedures received multiple-dose ac etaminophen. Serum concentrations were determined serially with an HPLC met hod, and pharmacokinetic analysis was performed. Pain assessment was perfor med by means of a validated pain score. Results: Ten consecutive term neonates received four rectal doses of acetam inophen, 20 mg/kg body weight, every 6 hours. Mean peak serum concentration s (+/-SD) during multiple-dose administration were 10.79 +/- 6.39 mg/L, 15. 34 +/- 5.21 mg/L, and 6.24 +/- 3.64 mg/L for the entire group, boys, and gi rls, respectively. There was a significant difference between the boys and the girls (P = .01). No serum concentrations associated with toxicity (>120 mg/L) were found. Median time to peak serum concentration was 1.5 hours af ter the first dose and 15 hours for multiple doses. Mean (+/-SD) half-life was 2.7 +/- 1.4 hours in. eight patients. There was no correlation between dose and serum concentration or between pain score and serum concentration. There was a significant inverse relationship between the preceding pain sc ore and peak serum concentrations. Conclusions: In term neonates, multiple rectal doses of acetaminophen, 20 m g/kg body weight, led to widely varying serum concentrations but did not re sult in therapeutic concentrations in all infants, Boys had higher peak con centrations. Because accumulation was not found, a dose of 30 mg/kg followe d by doses of 20 mg/kg at 6- to 8-hour administration intervals are appropr iate to reach therapeutic concentrations. A concentration-effect relationsh ip could not be determined.