The combination
oxycodoneOxycodone is an opioid analgesic medication synthesized from opium-derived thebaine. It was developed in 1916 in Germany, as one of several new semi-synthetic opioids in an attempt to improve on the existing opioids: morphine, diacetylmorphine , and codeine.Oxycodone oral medications are generally...
/paracetamolParacetamol INN , or acetaminophen USAN , is a widely used over-the-counter analgesic and antipyretic . It is commonly used for the relief of headaches and other minor aches and pains and is a major ingredient in numerous cold and flu remedies...
(North American trade name of combination
Percocet, North American trade name of latter
Acetaminophen) is a
narcoticThe term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
pain reliever used to treat moderate to severe acute (short-term)
painPain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...
, marketed by
Endo PharmaceuticalsEndo Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company. It was created as a result of a management buyout from DuPont Merck in 1997. Three DuPont Merck executives Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company. It was created as a result of a management buyout from...
.
History
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first approved Percocet in 1976, under application ANDA 085106.
Formulation
As of March 2006,
Endo PharmaceuticalsEndo Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company. It was created as a result of a management buyout from DuPont Merck in 1997. Three DuPont Merck executives Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company. It was created as a result of a management buyout from...
produces Percocet in following dosages. Percocet
tabletA tablet is a pharmaceutical dosage form. It comprises a mixture of active substances and excipients, usually in powder form, pressed or compacted from a powder into a solid dose...
s are available in six combinations of oxycodone hydrochloride and acetaminophen, with different appearances and maximum daily
doseA dose is a quantity of something that may impact an organism biologically; the greater the quantity, the larger the dose. In nutrition, the term is usually applied to how much of a specific nutrient is in a person's diet or in a particular food, meal, or dietary supplement...
s:
| Oxycodone Hydrochloride (mg) | Acetaminophen (mg) | Tablet Color | Tablet Shape | Maximum Daily Dose |
| 2.5 |
325 |
pink |
oval |
12 tablets |
| 5 |
325 |
white |
round |
12 tablets |
| 7.5 |
325 |
peach |
oval |
8 tablets |
| 7.5 |
500 |
peach |
capsule-shaped |
8 tablets |
| 10.0 |
325 |
white |
oblong |
6 tablets |
| 10.0 |
650 |
yellow |
oval |
6 tablets |
For the 2.5 mg Oxycodone HCL tablet, the usual dose is 1–2 tablets every six hours as needed for pain; for the other tablets, the usual dose is 1 tablet every six hours as needed for pain.
Use in pain management
This medicine, in recent years, has gained favor among the medical community due to its effectiveness and a lower addiction rate than
morphineMorphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
. It is very useful to give to someone who is experiencing acute severe pain that is neither
chronicChronic pain has several different meanings in medicine. Traditionally, the distinction between acute and chronic pain has relied upon an arbitrary interval of time from onset; the two most commonly used markers being 3 months and 6 months since the initiation of pain, though some theorists and...
nor breakthrough.
Implicated in deaths
On June 30, 2009, an FDA advisory panel recommended that Percocet,
VicodinHydrocodone/paracetamol is a combination of two analgesic products hydrocodone and paracetamol used to relieve moderate to severe pain...
, and every other combination of acetaminophen with
narcoticThe term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
analgesics be removed from the market because of their contributions to an alleged 400 acetaminophen related deaths in the United States each year, that were attributed to
acetaminophen overdoseParacetamol toxicity is caused by excessive use or overdose of the analgesic drug paracetamol . Mainly causing liver injury, paracetamol toxicity is one of the most common causes of poisoning worldwide...
and associated liver damage.
In December 2009, the
Canadian Medical Association JournalThe Canadian Medical Association Journal is a general medical journal that is published biweekly by the Canadian Medical Association . It covers research and ideas aimed at improving health for people in Canada and globally. CMAJ publishes original clinical research, analyses and reviews, news,...
reported a study finding a fivefold increase in oxycodone-related deaths in Ontario (mostly accidental) between 1991 and 2007 that led to a doubling of all opioid-related Ontario deaths over the same period.
External links