Opioids in non-cancer chronic pain

The objective of this review is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oxycodone administration for chronic non-cancer pain. We have started to use oxycodone for 107 patients with intractable pain (mean NRS 7.8) not sufficiently relieved by other medical treatment from January 2004 to December 2005. The data were extracted by one independent investigator. The average pain duration was 13.7 (3-46) months. The most common etiology of pain was spinal cord injury, followed by degenerative spine and failed back surgery syndrome, peripheral nerve injury, post-herpetic neuralgia, spine fracture, spine infection, and post-stroke pain.