Retrospectieve praktijkanalyse van tapentadol met vertraagde afgifte bij patiënten met chronische pijn refractair aan sterke opioïden

Abstract

Retrospective practice analysis of tapentadol prolonged release in patients with chronic pain refractory to strong opioids Tapentadol is a strong opioid with mixed antinociceptive analgesia and inhibition of the descending pain pathway, tested for the management of different types of chronic refractory pain. In daily practice, tapentadol prolonged release (tapentadol PR) is reserved for patients who already received strong opioids with unsatisfactory pain control or severe side effects, or patients who experienced opioid-induced hyperalgesia. The data of patients treated with tapentadol PR in 3 pain centers in Flanders (Belgium) were analyzed. The primary endpoint was the number of patients who continued the tapentadol PR treatment 6 weeks after it started. The secondary endpoints were pain reduction, global perceived effect (GPE) and side effects. Six weeks after the start of the treatment, 83% of the patients continued the therapy. The median reduction in pain score was 2 points on a numeric scale from 0-10. The GPE showed an improvement of 25% to 30% in 52% of the patients. The mean duration of the tapentadol PR treatment was 6.5 months. Only 24% of the patients stopped the treatment because of side effects and 34% due to an unsatisfactory result. Tapentadol PR is a possible addition in the therapeutic arsenal for the treatment of patients with severe chronic pain.