New developments in pharmacotherapy of pain

Summary

Several recent innovations in the field of pharmaco-therapy of pain have emerged in the Czech Republic that expand the options available for the therapy of acute, chronic, and neuropathic pain. These new developments can be broadly divided into dosage form modifications and new application routes (transmucosal route of administra-tion of fentanyl in the therapy of breakthrough pain), combinations of existing medicinal substances (fixed combinations of oxycodon and naloxon), or new chemical entities/molecules (tapentadol). The armamentarium of pharmaceuticals has also been expanded in the field of neuropathic pain, especially in the therapy of postherpetic neuralgia (patches containing capsaicin and lidocaine). Ongoing work continues in the group of strong opioids aiming at the development of new dosage forms with controlled release making one daily dose administration possible, as well as the development of combinations attenuating the most common adverse effects of strong opioids (such as the combination morphine/naltrexone). Preferred alternatives used for non-opioid analgesics include fixed combinations of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs with proton pump inhibitors or H₂ antagonists.

Key words:
pain, therapy, opioids, analgesics, combinations

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