Tramadol hydrochloride/acetaminophen combination for the relief of acute pain

• Main Author: Sawaddiruk P.
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-81255176798&partnerID=40&md5=d9bbe507e58873d358da52f88a63d097; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22076491; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/2992
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

Tramadol hydrochloride/acetaminophen is a combination drug containing tramadol hydrochloride 37.5 mg and acetaminophen 325 mg. The use of 25% less tramadol in the combination product reduces the incidence of tramadolrelated adverse events, while the addition of acetaminophen reduces the onset time of analgesia and improves the degree of analgesia. However, there was no clinically significant difference in the pharmacokinetic parameters of tramadol or acetaminophen when the fixed-dose combination was compared with the individual agents after multiple-dose administration. The onset time of tramadol hydrochloride/acetaminophen was the fastest at only 17 minutes compared 51 minutes for tramadol and 18 minutes for acetaminophen. This combination has been found to be effective in the management of postoperative pain. It improves pain relief and provides a faster onset and longer duration of action with fewer adverse events than either component separately. It also reduces the severity of pain, photophobia and phonophobia associated with migraine headache. Tramadol hydrochloride/acetaminophen has been shown to be most effective in patients with mild to moderate pain and has a lower risk of serious adverse events. Copyright © 2011 Prous Science, S.A.U. or its licensors. All rights reserved.