What is Percocet?
Percocet is a brand name for an analgesic that contains a combination of acetaminophen and oxycodone. Oxycodone is an opioid (or narcotic) medication used to treat moderate to severe pain. Acetaminophen is a less potent pain reliever that increases the effects of oxycodone.
FDA approved Percocet for the treatment of:
- Severe Chronic Pain
- Moderate Acute pain
- Moderate Chronic pain
- Severe Acute pain
Is Percocet the strongest analgesic? What the WHO Pain Ladder tells?
Percocet belongs to the group of strong analgesics but it is not the strongest one. According to the WHO Pain Ladder, a combination of acetaminophen in doses of 325 or 500 mg and oxycodone in the dose of 5 mg is classified as moderate pain analgesic of the Step 3 (there are 4 steps ranks) together with a combination of acetaminophen and codeine, morphine, hydromorphone (Dialudid), fentanyl and methadone.
Percocet is considered stronger than any other non-narcotic analgesic such as NSAIDs (ibuprofen, aspirin, diclofenac, nimesulid, celecoxib, acetaminophen etc) of the Step 1. It is also stronger than tramadol, tapetandol and buprenorphine which are categorized as Step 2 analgesics.
According to the WHO Pain Ladder, analgesic that are stronger than Percocet and categorized as a Step 4 analgesic for severe pain are:
- Nerve block
- Infiltration (joint, muscular, trigger point)
- Epidurals
- PCA
- Neurolytic block
- Radiofrequency/thermolesion
- Spinal stimulators
Percocet potency according to the Opioid Equivalency Table (Equianalgesic table)
The opioid equivalency table lists opioid and non-opioid analgesic drugs and their relative potencies using morphine as a standard (its potency is 1). According to this table, Percocet is about:
- 500x times stronger than acetaminophen alone
- 500x times stronger than aspirin
- 300x times stronger than ibuprofen
- 200x times stronger than difunisal
- 180x times stronger than naproxen
- 160x times stronger than piroxicam
- 80x times stronger than indomethacin
- 20x times stronger than diclofenac
- 13x times stronger than codein
- 13x times stronger than tramadol
- 13x times stronger than opium
- 6x times stronger than tilidine
- 6x times stronger than dihydrocodeine
- 4x times stronger than tapetandol
- 4x times stronger than pethidine
- 5x times stronger than hydrocodone
- 5x times stronger than pentazocine
- 5x times stronger than morphine
- The same potency as spiradoline
- 2x times weaker than morphine intravascular
- 2x times weaker than methadone
- 3x times weaker than hydromorphone
- 3x times weaker than decozine
- 5x times weaker than oxymorphone
- 5x times weaker than desomorphine
- 15x times weaker than alfentanyl
- 17x times weaker than enadoline
- 30x times weaker than buprenorphine
- 50x times weaker than acetorphine
- 75x times weaker than fentanyl
- 100x times weaker than remifentanyl
- 500x times weaker than sufentanyl
- 4 200x times weaker than ohmfentanyl
- 5 800x times weaker than acetorphine
- 6 00x times weaker than dihydroetoprhine
- 50 000x times weaker than carfentanyl
- 50 000x times weaker than lofentanyl