Combined administration of oxycodone/naloxone in chronic osteo-articular diseases pain therapy.

The aim of this study is the analysis of the beneficial impact of using opioid receptor antagonist associated to opioid analgesic on the quality of life in patients suffering from chronic non-cancer pain. We recruited 60 patients suffering from osteo-articular diseases who were randomized into two groups of treatment. The group A was treated with the association of opioid receptor antagonist and opioid agonist, represented by Oxycodone.

The novel therapeuthic targets in the treatment of chronic pain.

Effective treatment for neuropathic pain is still lacking, because of poor understanding of pathological mechanisms at the molecular level. Chronic pain (inflammatory and neuropathic pain) is believed to be caused by aberrant neuronal responses along the pain transmission pathways. Both peripheral and central origins are likely to be involved in chronic pain, although their contribution may be different depending on the various forms of chronic pain.

Economic evaluation of "pulse dose" radiofrequency in the treatment of occipital neuralgia headache.

Headache occipital neuralgia is an example of pain-disease for which treatment both pharmacological protocols and invasive methods are used. Among the latter, the RF (Radiofrequency) pulse-dose has been of interest for the prospects of analgesic efficacy, safety and patient compliance, although at the moment only data concerning the pulsed RF and not the RF pulse-dose, that represents its evolution, are discussed in scientific literature. The purpose of this study is a "simple" economic evaluation of this method in headache occipital neuralgia.

Pain treatment with high-dose, controlled-release oxycodone: an Italian perspective.

Objective: To investigate the possible role and tolerability of high-dose (>160 mg/day) oxycodone controlled release (CR) for the treatment of cancer and non-cancer pain.

Design: 227 patients with cancer or non-cancer pain were enrolled in an open-label, multi-center, Italian study in order to assess the adequacy of their existing pain management (using a numerical rating scale [NRS]) and the possible benefit high-dose oxycodone CR may offer patients experiencing uncontrolled pain.

Results: Pain was poorly controlled at baseline, with only 18.