Analgesic efficacy and safety of oral flupirtine in the treatment of cancer pain.

In a controlled, double-blind clinical trial the analgesic efficacy and safety of flupirtine 100 mg capsules were compared with pentazocine capsules 50 mg. Fifty two patients with "severe" to "very severe" cancer pain were treated. The duration of therapy was up to one week with a daily dose of up to 6 capsules of each drug. The analgesic efficacy was assessed by a verbal 4-point grading scale. The treatment groups revealed no differences in baseline pain and the dosage was similar in each. In this small series of patients flupirtine produced numerically more "good" or "very good" results than pentazocine (68% and 50% respectively) although these differences were not statistically significant (P greater than 0.3). A similar number of adverse reactions occurred in each group but patients receiving pentazocine seemed to be more likely to develop reactions affecting the central nervous system, an important point in the therapy of ill, but often ambulant patients. Flupirtine fulfilled the requirements of both patients and doctors for effective cancer pain relief e.g. maintenance of the quality of life by complete or nearly complete pain remission in association with lack of abuse potential, oral dosage form and lack of disturbance of vital functions.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes