Papers of the Week

The incidence of chronic pain increases with age and comorbidities, a particularly relevant issue in the elderly over the age of 80 years. Thus, the choice of the best analgesic treatment is difficult to make. The therapeutic priority in elderly patients is to favor the least invasive route of administration, and the minimum effective dose, with a gradual and slow up-titration, if needed. Tapentadol with its dual mechanism of action, combining synergistically a reduced load (<40% that of strong opioids) of μ-opioid receptor agonism (MOR) with noradrenaline reuptake inhibition (NRI), can be an interesting analgesic option for geriatric patients, because of its easy manageability, the lower rate of adverse effects, the good level of analgesia, and the ability of improving the overall quality of life of elderly patients.