Articles: analgesics.
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The pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia and the use of nontraditional analgesics in the management of postherpetic neuralgia are reviewed. Herpes zoster represents the reactivation in an immunocompromised host of dormant varicella-zoster virus (Herpesvirus varicellae) contracted during a previous episode of chickenpox. Fever, neuralgia, and paresthesia occur four to five days before skin lesions develop. ⋯ Positive results have been reported with levodopa, amantadine, and interferon, but the role of these agents in the prevention of postherpetic neuralgia remains unclear. Nontraditional analgesic agents are useful in the management of postherpetic neuralgia, but patients must be selected and monitored appropriately. A tricyclic antidepressant (especially amitriptyline) is a reasonable first choice.
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Arzneimittel Forsch · Jan 1985
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial[Flupirtine in patients with cancer pain].
In a double-blind clinical trial the analgesic efficacy and safety of ethyl-N-(2-amino-6-[4-fluorophenyl-methylamino] pyridin-3-yl)carbamate (flupirtine, designated trademark: Katadolon) as 100-mg capsules were compared to pentazocine capsules 50 mg in 52 patients with severe to very severe cancer pain. The duration of treatment was up to one week, the daily dose up to 6 capsules. The analgesic effect was assessed by a 4-point verbal rating scale. ⋯ Final evaluation demonstrated that flupirtine was significantly more effective than pentazocine in reducing pain. The incidence of side-effects was similar in both treatment groups, flupirtine, however, caused less intensive and less clinically relevant adverse reactions. In conclusion the results indicate that flupirtine is a potent and well tolerated analgesic in the treatment of cancer pain.
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Arzneimittel Forsch · Jan 1985
Comparative Study[General pharmacologic studies on the analgesic flupirtine].
In the present study the general pharmacological properties of ethyl-N-[2-amino-6-(4-fluor-phenylmethylamino)pyridin-3-yl]carbama te (flupirtine, D 9998), a structural new analgesic, are described. In several tests with mice flupirtine shows a centrally depressant component of action. However, regarding undesirable side effects as ataxia, inhibition of motor activity etc. this action is, with respect to the analgesic effective doses less pronounced than those of comparable analgesics, for instance phenacetin. ⋯ Like several other analgesics flupirtine shows in rats a reversible antidiuretic action including sodium and chloride retention which is of relatively short duration and is not observed in long-term studies in rats and dogs. In contrast to many stronger antiinflammatory compounds, flupirtine does not possess ulcerogenic activity in rats up to high doses. A minimal inhibition of intestinal motility (mouse) is observed only in doses higher than the analgesic effective doses.