Stark wirksame Opioide zur Therapie chronischer Schmerzen

Abstract

In the following presentation 59 German and English articles on the use of strong opioids in chronic pain syndromes are analysed. Studies concerning the epidural, intrathecal, intracerebroventricular and transdermal application of opioids were excluded. The articles were attributed to different study levels according to their contents. The majority of articles (n=39, 66.1%) consisted of case presentations, while only 33.9% of the articles presented randomised (n=15) or non-randomised (n=5) study designs. The analgesic effect of the strong opioids morphine, buprenorphine and methadone in oral, rectal, subcutaneous and intravenous forms of application was confirmed for cancer-associated and non-cancer-associated chronic pain. Altogether there is a lack of controlled clinical studies.