Tapentadol a new therapeutic option

Abstract

Introduction: The peripheral dysfunction or illness is associated to the sensory phenomenon that includes both symptoms of loss of function as well as pain generation. Opioids provide relief from many pain settings; however they have reduced potency and efficacy for neuropathic pain. Objective. Provide a current review of the literature about tapentadol that could be used as a guide. Methodology. A literature search on the Cochrane, PubMed and Embase databases retrieved 66 papers, and from these, the papers with relevant information about tapentadol were selected. Results and Conclusions. The therapeutic combination of the μ opioid receptor agonists with inhibitors of the norepinephrine reuptake have become more popular recently as an alternative to treat the mechanisms responsible for neuropathic pain. However, even though the inhibitors of the norepinephrine reuptake are well tolerated, their analgesic efficacy is usually unsatisfactory, and opioids usually have tolerability problems; the recent introduction of tapentadol, which combines in the same molecule both mechanisms of action can represent a novel, improved and efficient alternative for analgesia.