Objective: In the pharmacological therapy of osteoarthritis of the knee, various medicines have been prescribed to control knee pain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a tramadol hydrochloride-acetaminophen (TRAM) combination in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
Methods: We prescribed TRAM to 46 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who were unable to achieve adequate pain relief using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The patients included 15 men and 31 women, with a mean age of 79.7 years. According to the change in their knee pain intensity after the administration of TRAM, patients classified their pain as one of the following: ‘disappeared,’ ‘decreased,’ ‘mildly decreased,’ ‘unchanged,’ or ‘increased.’.
Results: Knee pain ‘disappeared’ in two patients, ‘decreased’ in 13, ‘mildly decreased’ in 12, was ‘unchanged’ in 18, and ‘increased’ in one patient. Nine patients discontinued taking TRAM due to side effects, all of which subsequently resolved.
Conclusion: Because tramadol acts as a μ-opioid receptor agonist, it is believed that the TRAM combination directly decreases the pain by inhibiting its transmission. In this study, approximately 60% of all patients who could not achieve sufficient pain relief using NSAIDs could do so using TRAM. However, some patients had to discontinue the medication because of side effects. We think it is necessary to devise a suitable analgesia regimen for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee using TRAM.
