Pain med question

[AimBSN]

A resident had an order for oxycodone 5mg and Percocet 5/325 and asked which was stronger. Is one "stronger" than the other? What about Vicodin 5/500 or dilaudid 2mg or other po pain meds?

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

In only discussing Percocet vs. oxycodone, percocet is oxycodone in combination with acetaminophen therefore it may potentially be more effective than oxycodone alone though it would depend on the resident's interpretation of "stronger". If they are asking about overall pain relief, percocet is probably better, but if they are asking about neuro-active ingredients then they are equal.

What you need regarding the other medications is an equianalgesic chart to compare the strength of the narcotics you mentioned. I'll let you google that, there are many out there. Generally they compare the strength of many different pain meds to 10 mg of morphine as a baseline.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

The only difference between Oxycodone 5 mg and Percocet 5/325 is that Percocet has 325 mg of Acetaminophen in it. The narcotic portion is identical.

Vicodin 5/500 is 5 mg of hydrocodone and 500 mg of acetaminophen. Dilaudid is, in my opinion/experience, stronger than the rest though it is also administered at smaller doses.