In conclusion, venlafaxine is a safe and well-tolerated analgesic drug for the symptomatic treatment of neuropathic pain, and there is limited evidence that high-dose venlafaxine (150 mg/day) can be even more beneficial. While the present evidence is quite encouraging regarding venlafaxine's use for neuropathic pain, further research is needed to continue to expand on these findings, particularly when in consideration with other possible pharmacological agents.
While there is some evidence of efficacy, due to the relatively small number of patients in each study, further research is needed to demonstrate the benefits of SCS for PLP.
We report a case of a 57-year-old male patient with intrathecal morphine pump failure who presented with psychosis as part of a clinical presentation of opioid withdrawal. The patient was being treated for chronic back pain with an intrathecal morphine pump for several years. The patient spontaneously started to experience psychotic symptoms which included disorganized thinking, delusional thoughts, paranoia, auditory and visual hallucinations. Upon interrogation of intrathecal pump, it was found not to be functioning, thereby not delivering intrathecal morphine. After opioid rotation with administration of oral oxycodone, the patient's psychosis improved dramatically within a few days, clinically confirming psychosis due to morphine withdrawal. Therefore, it is important for physicians to consider opioid withdrawal in patients experiencing isolated psychosis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.