New drug offers better pain relief with fewer side effects

Total Health | May 8th, 2009

We noticed that Grünenthal, a German pharmaceutical company, has submitted a Marketing Authorisation Application for tapentadol tablets to several European authorities.  Grünenthal is seeking an indication for the treatment of severe acuteHas a sudden onset. and severe chronicA disease of long duration generally involving slow changes. pain requiring centrally acting analgesicsAnother term for painkillers. therapy in adults. If approved Tapentadol will be the first of a new generation of centrally-acting analgesics. In the United States, the IR formulation of tapentadol has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the relief of moderate to severe acute pain in adult patients.

“Many patients suffer from pain because available treatment options do not provide sufficient pain relief, or have other limitations such as gastro-intestinalrelating to the intestines, the digestive tract between the stomach and the anus side effects that may trigger patients to discontinue treatment”, says Wolfgang Becker, Corporate Executive Board Member. “We are convinced that tapentadol has the potential to contribute to overcoming these unmet medical needs and help to improve pain management.”

Consultant Interventional Spine and Pain Physician Nigel Kellow says:

This is potentially exciting. We have always had particular difficulties with the side effects of strong analgesics. The most common side effects with morphine and other opioids are nausea, vomitingExpusion of the contents of the stomach through the mouth., constipationa common condition where stools are not passed as frequently as normal, and drowsiness. Any drug that can offer similar quality pain relief with fewer side effects will be welcomed by all doctors who look after patients in pain.

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Expert articles

Neurosurgery for pain management

By Mr Ranjeev Bhangoo, Consultant NeurosurgeonContact
King's College Hospital, The Harley Street Clinic

The aim of neurosurgery has always been to gain the maximal benefit for the patient with the minimum amount of risk. Neurosurgery can be used to treat back, neck, leg and arm pain following a thorough assessment by a neurosurgeon. In most cases further tests will be ordered to assess which nervesBundles of fibres that carry information in the form of electrical impulses. are involved in the pain and this is usually an MRIAn abbreviation for magnetic resonance imaging, a technique for imaging the body that uses electromagnetic waves and a strong magnetic field. scan of the spine.

Neuromodulation FAQs

By Mr Keyoumars Ashkan, Consultant NeurosurgeonContact
King's College Hospital, The Harley Street Clinic

Neuromodulation essentially involves the use of electricity, delivered into specific parts of the brain, spine or the nervesBundles of fibres that carry information in the form of electrical impulses. to change their function. Through using electricity to change the functions of the body neuromodulation can be used to treat a whole spectrum of medical conditions.

What is neuromodulation?

By Mr Keyoumars Ashkan, Consultant NeurosurgeonContact
King's College Hospital, The Harley Street Clinic

Neuromodulation is one of the most exciting emerging techniques in neurosurgery. It essentially involves the use of electricity, delivered into specific parts of the brain, spine or the nervesBundles of fibres that carry information in the form of electrical impulses. to change their function and treat a whole spectrum of medical conditions. Unlike the traditional concept of surgery which involves making changes to the structure of the body to treat disease, neuromodulation acts to change the function.

Pain and Effective Pain Management

By Dr Chris Jenner, Consultant in Pain MedicineContact
St Mary's Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, which we primarily associate with tissueA group of cells with a similar structure and a specialised function. damage. However, a more useful definition is to say that pain is whatever the patient says it is.

Sciatica and Brachialgia

By Dr Nigel Kellow, Consultant Interventional Spine and Pain PhysicianContact
Barts and the London NHS Trust, London Orthopaedic Clinic

The terms sciaticaPain that radiates along the sciatic nerve, which is the main nerve in each leg and the largest nerve in the body. and brachialgia are used to describe nerveBundle of fibres that carries information in the form of electrical impulses. pain in the leg and in the arm respectively. Anyone who has ever had nerve pain will tell you that it is like no other pain they have ever had before. They tend to use very characteristic words to describe it, like “burning”, “gnawing”, “aching”, “shooting”, “electric shock.” Nerve pain does not respond very well to normal painkillers that you can get from a pharmacy, and even many doctors often find it hard to believe that it is painful as patients tell them it is. 

Understanding Pain and Painkillers

By Dr Nigel Kellow, Consultant Interventional Spine and Pain PhysicianContact
Barts and the London NHS Trust, London Orthopaedic Clinic

We can take a sample of bloodA fluid that transports oxygen and other substances through the body, made up of blood cells suspended in a liquid. from a patient and measure the levels of hundreds of substances in it; we can use x-rays, ultrasoundA diagnostic method in which very high frequency sound waves are passed into the body and the reflective echoes analysed to build a picture of the internal organs – or of the foetus in the uterus., MRIAn abbreviation for magnetic resonance imaging, a technique for imaging the body that uses electromagnetic waves and a strong magnetic field., and radioisotopes to image any part of the body in minute detail. We can even take a sample of hair and tell if someone had taken drugs months previously. But if a patient tells us they’re in pain we can’t measure their pain in a blood sample, or look at it on an x-ray, and we certainly can’t tell from their hair that they were in pain a few months earlier. We have to believe them, and a good doctor will always believe their patients if they tell them they’re in pain. Pain is entirely subjective. 

Recent news

Neuromodulation: Innovative treatment to combat pain

Total Health | November 10th, 2011

Neuromodulation, an emerging neurosurgery technique has been found to successfully treat headaches, dystonia and Parkinson’s disease amongst other neurological Associated with the nervous system and the brain. conditions.

Neuromodulation is the delivery of electricity to nervesBundles of fibres that carry information in the form of electrical impulses. in order to change their function or activity without having to go under the knife. From the early days of battery pacemakers, neuromodulation has come on in leaps and bounds to include a variety of different types which can be tailor-made to individual patients’ needs. Patients can have the option of being able to adjust and recharge their systems allowing them to have control over their own treatments.

Unpleasant patients are such a pain

Total Health | October 5th, 2011

A research study published in PAIN® found that people are biased in their perception of pain according to how much they like the person involved.

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