Kinjo T, Tadokoro T, Tokushige A, et al. - Whether postoperative shivering could be prevented by perioperative acetaminophen administration was determined in this randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial with women scheduled for gynecological laparotomy. Researchers randomized the participants to either the acetaminophen or the placebo groups. Following induction of general anesthesia, the test drug (acetaminophen 15 mg/kg) or placebo (0.9% saline) was intravenously delivered over 15 minutes. In the postanesthesia care unit, a significantly lower incidence of severe postoperative shivering was found in acetaminophen group (22.2%) vs in the placebo group (73.7%). This implies that postoperative severe shivering can be prevented by perioperative acetaminophen administration in patients undergoing gynecological laparotomy. Such a prophylactic effect might be attributed to suppressing the postoperative rise in the body temperature set point, rather than decreasing the threshold for shivering, as noted with clonidine.