• G H H Müller-Schwefe and M A Uberall.
• Regionales Schmerz- und Palliativzentrum DGS, Göppingen.
• MMW Fortschr Med. 2008 Jan 17; 149 Suppl 4: 153-61.

BackgroundChronic back pain is mainly caused by painful tension in the back muscles. Thus, analgesics with muscle tone decreasing effects that apparently normalize increased muscle tonus through specific modes of action without disturbing normal muscular movement are an important therapeutic option. Flupirtine retard (Katadolon S long) has provided such an option since 2006.ObjectivesTo impartially evaluate the muscle tonus normalizing effects of flupirtine retard by applying specific, objective test methods in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain under routine practice conditions.MethodsProspective standardized evaluation of a treatment with flupirtine retard in 30 patients with continuous chronic, therapy refractory back pain. Measurement of general pain intensity, pain pressure threshold and pain pressure tolerance for trigger-point related pain and muscle tension in the affected back muscles before and during flupirtine retard treatment were performed in a standardized manner.ResultsIn comparison to the reproducible, constant initial values, the two-week treatment with flupirtine retard led to a significant improvement in all measured muscle-specific indicators: pain pressure threshold (+48%), pain pressure tolerance (+27%) and depth of penetration in the muscle (+18%) (all values p < 0.001). These were also correlated with a clinically observable and statistically significant pain relief from an initial level of 7.0 +/- 1.3 to 3.0 +/- 1.4.ConclusionFlupirtine retard was shown to be a useful, effective and very tolerable therapeutic option for patients with chronic back pain. The improvement of muscle disturbances which are responsible for the pain in addition to pain relief was shown firstly by objective measure methods.

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