A review of oxycodone's clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

Oxycodone (14-hydroxy-7,8-dihydrocodeinone) is a strong opioid agonist that is available alone or in combination with mild analgesics. It is suitable for oral administration due to high bioavailability (60%), and may also be given intramuscularly, intravenously, subcutaneously, and rectally; it is not recommended for spinal administration. In analgesic potency, oxycodone is comparable to morphine. With the exception of hallucinations, which may occur more rarely after oxycodone than after morphine, the side effects of these drugs are closely related. The abuse potential of oxycodone is equivalent to that of morphine. The usual indications for oxycodone are severe acute postoperative or posttraumatic pain and cancer pain. When oxycodone is administered, the same precautions should be taken as with morphine or other agonist opioids.