Tramadol for osteoarthritis

Tramadol alone or combined with paracetamol provides small benefits for patients with osteoarthritis by decreasing pain intensity, relieving symptoms and improving function compared to placebo. Adverse events limit the usefulness of the medication.

A Cochrane review included 11 studies with a total of 1019 participants who received tramadol or tramadol/paracetamol and 920 participants who received placebo or active control. Patients who received tramadol had less pain (–8.5 units on a 0 to 100 scale; 95% confidence interval [CI] –12.0 to –5.0) than patients who received placebo. With tramadol there was a 37% increase (95% CI 1.2 to 1.5) in the likelihood of reporting moderate improvement (NNT = 6; 95% CI 4 to 9). The risk of minor adverse events was 2.27 times and the risk of major adverse events 2.6 times higher with tramadol than with placebo. Number needed to harm (NNH; stopping of tramadol or tramadol/paracetamol medication for major adverse events) = 8 (95% CI 7 to 12).

No conclusion could be drawn on tramadol or tramadol/paracetamol compared with other available pharmacological treatments because of limited number of studies.

Ədəbiyyat

1. Cepeda MS, Camargo F, Zea C, Valencia L. Tramadol for osteoarthritis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006 Jul 19;3:CD005522.