Papers of the Week

Low back pain (LBP) is a highly prevalent chronic pain condition with a neuropathic component of pain that limits the benefits of classical opioids. Tapentadol is an innovative drug for the treatment of chronic severe pain, with a dual mechanism of action combining µ-opioid receptors agonism and noradrenaline re-uptake inhibition (NRI). Its efficacy is equal to that of strong opioids, with a better tolerability profile and a consequently lower risk of treatment discontinuation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic efficacy and tolerability of tapentadol prolonged release (PR) vs. other analgesics in patients with moderate-to-severe neuropathic low back pain, before and after back surgery.