Response of neuropathic trigeminal pain to the combination of low-dose nalbuphine plus naloxone in humans

Brian L. Schmidt, Robert W. Gear, Jon D. Levine

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We report on the response of medically refractory neuropathic trigeminal pain in three patients to intravenous administration of a combination of the kappa-partial agonist opioid nalbuphine and the opioid antagonist naloxone. Each of the three patients had developed a painful peripheral neuropathy as a complication of chemical or mechanical injury to the trigeminal nerve. Each patient had been tried on a number of analgesics, including mu-opioids, and had not gained relief or was not able to tolerate side effects of the medications. Pain intensity was measured for 3 h following drug administration using a 10 cm visual analog scale. All three patients reported marked decrease in pain following administration of the nalbuphine and naloxone combination. These findings suggest a novel approach to the management for neuropathic pain.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)144-146
Number of pages3
JournalNeuroscience letters
Volume343
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 5 2003

Keywords

  • Anti-analgesia
  • Dysesthesia
  • Kappa opioids
  • Local anesthetic toxicity
  • Nerve injury
  • Opioid antagonism

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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