Tramadol in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis

Overview

The authors present a review of contemporary possibilities of treatment of osteoarthritis focusedon analgesic treatment, in particular the use of opioids (tramadol). As causal treatment of osteoar-thritis is lacking and pain is the main symptom of this disease, analgesic treatment plays a crucialpart in the treatment of osteoarthritis. Pain in osteoarthritis is of multifactorial origin and thereforetreatment with analgesics (paracetamol) or NSA is not necessarily effective and other possibilitiesmust be sought. One of them is tramadol, the effectiveness of which in osteoarthritis as well as itssafety was tested in a number of clinical trials. Use of tramadol is associated neither with tolerancenor with addiction development, side-effects are less serious than after NSA. This year at the EULARConference the drug was included in ACR guidelines for the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Key words:
osteoarthritis, tramadol, pain, opioids