Advantage of controlled-release tramadol in treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chronic musculoskeletal pain can cause disability and decreased quality of life of patients. Probing into the therapeutic methods of musculoskeletal disease and choosing proper treatment drugs are important for patients.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of controlled-release tramadol in patients with moderate to severe chronic pain of musculoskeletal origin.DESIGN: A self-control study was conducted.SETTING: Arthrtosis Institute, People' s Hospital Affiliated to Peking University.PARTICIPANTS: Patients who were in the Orthopaedic Outpatient Service,People' s Hospital of Peking University were involved. This observational study was conducted in 40 adults who experienced moderate to moderately severe chronic musculoskeletal pain that was not controlled by routine nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAID) therapy.INTERVENTIONS: Any NSAIDs and other analgesics were prohibited. Patients initially took 50 mg of controlled-release tramadol (Tramcontin) every 12hours, supplemented by every 50 mg if insufficient pain relieved. Recommended daily maximum dose was 400 mg per day. The observation lasted for 4 weeks. The patients were asked for document therapy-relevant data every day and were interviewed every week to doctor assessment.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain intensity before and after treatment, pain remission degree, all side effects and their severity.RESULTS: All cases were finished the study and no one withdrew from follow-up. No eligible patients exited from the study because of therapeutic failure or intolerance. In comparison with the initial visual analogue scale (VAS) mean value 6. 80 ± 1.84, the average VAS value at the end of observation was 1.00 ± 1.46, which had significant difference( P ＜ 0. 001) . An average pain reduction of (85. 50±5.35)%was obtained, among which 78% were absolutely and obviously lessened. Side effects were reported in 9cases (22%).Drowsiness and dizziness(6 cases) was the most common, followed by nausea (3 cases), vomiting (1 case), somnolence (2 cases), constipation and urinary retention (1 case) and blurred vision (1 case).CONCLUSION: Tramcontin, as slow-release tramadol, proved to be an effective, safe, and easy-to-use central acting analgesic has an important role in the management of chronic musculoskeletal pain. Light side effect and good tolerance has provided a new choice for treatment of chronic pain in the orthopaedic department.