Analysis of opiate use during the period 2010 to 2016 in an urban pharmacy in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Resumen

Opioid analgesics are widely used in the treatment of acute-severe pain as well asmoderate to severe chronic pain that does not respond to other treatments. In recentyears, the prescription of this type of analgesic has been increasing, even for chronicnon-oncological pain. This means that this “opiophobia” based on fear of addiction,possible toxicity, tolerance or bureaucratic obstacles have been left behind. However,its obvious sedative effects and potential for abuse is a sufficient reason to try to find abalance between licit and illicit use, between therapeutic effects and adverse reactions.This study used the notes of the drugs belonging to the ATC group “N02A.Opioid analgesics”, extracted from the Official Book of Narcotic Drugs of an urbanpharmacy in the province of Tenerife, for a period of seven years and differentiatedby sex.At the end of the study period, a total of 1,528 dispensations were recorded,mostly to male patients. The most prescribed active ingredient was tapentadol, andmainly in female patients. It was also noted that new narcotic molecules, alone orin association, as well as the most innovative pharmaceutical forms, have almostcompletely relegated classic opiates, such as morphine, to the background.For the above reasons, this study highlights the current demand for more potentanalgesics that can relieve severe pain in oncological or non-oncological patients,minimizing the adverse effects produced by classic opioids as much as possible.