Tapentadol IR for Acute Pain

¶ … Tapentadol IR for Acute Pain Is Associated With Improved Gastrointestinal Tolerability Compared to Oxycodone IR. Medical News Today. 11 May 2008. Retrieved Feb 1, 2009 at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/107002.php

Nurses treating patients for acute pain need to be aware of contraindications, patient allergies, and the differences between pharmaceutical pain interventions. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new pharmaceutical called Tapentadol. Tapentadol is administered orally and has been proven to induce fewer side effects in patients than comparable pain medications while providing the same quality of relief. The drug is especially effective in treating lower back pain and osteoarthritis, two conditions nurses will commonly encounter. Nurses should be aware of the potential for Tapentadol to help alleviate acute (from moderate to severe) pain in patients who also suffer from gastrointestinal distress as well.

Tapentadol is currently manufactured in immediate release (IR) and extended release (ER) tablets. Recent research compared the effects of Tapentadol with oxycodone IR and found that the former caused significantly fewer gastrointestinal side effects including nausea, vomiting, constipation, or a combination thereof. Moreover, the drug was tolerated well after several weeks of administration. As a new generation of pain relief medications, Tapentadol should be added to any nurse's lexicon of pharmaceuticals. The drug will also be available in extended relief formulas for patients with more chronic pain concerns.

Initially developed by German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal, Tapentadol is distributed and manufactured in the United States by Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development (J&JPRD), L.L.C. Both Grunenthal and J&JPRD supported the phase 3 clinical research. The study was double blind and randomized, using a large population sample. Therefore, the research offers reliable data supporting the emerging medication.

The sample included 878 patients with low back pain or pain from osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. Patients were randomly assigned to Tapentadol or control drug oxycodone and took their medications for 90 days Doses for Tapentadol were flexible with either 50 or 100 mg offered every 4 to 6 hours, up to a maximum of 600 mg/day. Instances of nausea, vomiting, and constipation were significantly lower in the Tapentadol group vs. The oxycodone group. Doses were flexible and mimicked real life administrations of the medications.

However, the control group was given 10 mg or 15 mg of oxycodone IR every four to six hours. The lack of standardization of doses and the flexible administration of the drugs compromise the reliability and validity of the study. Nurses should also take note that rates of other side-effects such as drowsiness and dizziness did not differ between the two groups. Tapentadol is especially effective for patients experiencing chronic pain but who cannot tolerate the gastrointestinal side-effects of oxycodone or other pain relief medications. No other side effects were investigated in the current research.