Psychiatria pre prax 1/2010

Efficacy and safety of psychopharmacotherapy in treatment of algic syndromes

An important part of an integrated chronic pain treatment is adjuvant therapy. The concurrent use of drugs from various pharmacological classes leads to better therapeutic effect and lower incidence of adverse effects. In treatment of patients with chronic pain combinations of analgetics and psychotropics are often used. Psychotropics also play an important role in managing secondary emotional disorders and affective disorders accompanying algic syndromes and they are first line treatment of primary mental disorders with pain symptoms such as depressive episode and somatoform disorder. In this paper we focus on use of psychotropics in treatment of algic syndromes. We describe analgesic efficacy of antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and anticonvulsants. We also present potential adverse effects associated with their administration.

Keywords: pain, antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics