Episode 970: Fever Management
Published: August 22, 2025
Duration: 2:06
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD
Educational Pearls:
Recorded March 2025
What is the best treatment for a fever? Tylenol? Ibuprofen? Combined? Alternating the two?
The journal Pediatrics aimed to answer this question with a meta-analysis of 31 randomized controlled trials including 5,009 febrile children. Results showed that both combined and alternating acetaminophen/ibuprofen regimens were significantly more effective at reducing fever at 4 and 6 hours compared with acetaminophen alone, with numbers needed to treat (NNT) of 3 and 4, respectively. High-dose ibuprofen alone also offered modest benefit (NNT 8).What dose should I use?
Oral acetaminophen 10 to 15 mg...