Vistaril 25mg and Percocet 10/325mg , usual frequency MD's order them? Q 4 prn is okay?

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How often does doctors usually order Vistaril and percocet together for pain? How frequent should it be ordered for it to be considered acceptable? Sorry new-bie here. Thanks for your help.

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hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I

4 Articles; 4,720 Posts

Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life). Has 21 years experience.

I suspect the vistaril is being ordered for the anxiety that often comes with pain. It is a antihistamine similar to Benadryl but it has a side effect of reducing anxiety. It has no value by itself for pain control. It can also help with the itching which is a known side effect of some opioid's

Hppy

MunoRN, RN

8,058 Posts

Specializes in Critical Care. Has 10 years experience.

Vistaril is often combined with opiates for illicit use, as vistaril potentiates the euphoric effects of opiates.

mjake101

2 Posts

Is it okay to be given Q 4 hours as needed?

MunoRN, RN

8,058 Posts

Specializes in Critical Care. Has 10 years experience.

Percocet is often given every four hours since it's half life is about 3.5 hours, vistaril however is usually every 6 hours or even just twice a day.

oceanblue52

462 Posts

Psych nurse here, that dose of Vistaril is quite low and fairly safe. As always, monitor respiration, sedation, etc. before giving, but it has a low tendency for abuse and is definitely one of the safer meds for managing anxiety. I usually see it being ordered max TID but that scenario stems from long term out patient management.

AJJKRN

1,224 Posts

Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown. Has 6+ years experience.

The ortho MDs at my hospital all have vistaril in their order sets to be given along side any pain med chosen (they give a variety so the nurses can make an executive decision along with pt input/experience and not have to be called at home in the middle of the night only to need to switch meds).

So yeah, vistaril can help potentiate the effect of the narcs and is often ordered safely at q4 hours, q6 hours, etc prn.