Pharmacotherapy of chronic, non-tumour related pain. Efficacy, tolerability and patient benefit of an oral osmotic system with hydromorphone

An overview of the results of a clinical study is presented in which efficacy, tolerability and patient benefit of a therapy with OROS (ORal OSmotic) hydromorphone (Jurnista) in patients with chronic pain was investigated.

Results: Changing patients to the oral osmotic system with hydromorphone at a ratio of 1:5 morphine equivalents usually led to good analgesia in one or two titration steps. In a randomized, controlled study in patients with chronic osteoarthritis pain, the therapeutic results with oral osmotic hydromorphone once daily were comparable to those of oxycodone twice daily. In addition, the patients in this study showed clear improvement in the quality of life (WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index) and sleep (MOS Sleep Assessment Questionnaire). Patients with chronic back pain showed significantly reduced pain intensity, improved quality of life (SF-36) and sleep (MOS Sleep Assessment Questionnaire) when treated with oral osmotic hydromorphone. The side effect profile of oral osmotic hydromorphone corresponded to that of the known profile for opioids and also improved significantly during long-term therapy (six months).

Conclusions: The results emphasize the clinical effectiveness of oral osmotic hydromorphone in the treatment of chronic, intense pain.