Prescribing patterns of tramadol in hemodialysis patients

Authors

  • Manem Saritha Department of Pharmacology, East Point College of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
  • Pathapati Rama Mohan Department of Pharmacology, Narayana Medical College, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20194258

Keywords:

Clonidine, Interaction, Potentiation, Analgesic, Hemodialysis, Tramadol

Abstract

Background: Pain is the most common complaint in hemodialysis patients. Tramadol had become analgesic of choice in these patients, and its prescription is increasing day by day. With this background, we evaluated the prescribing trends of tramadol in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis.

Methods: A total of 70 prescriptions were audited to assess the prescribing trends of tramadol (usually prescribed as a combination of 37.5 mg tramadol and 325 mg of paracetamol two times a day). Included prescriptions were from both male and female patients above 18 years of age undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Demographic, clinical and medication use were recorded from the patients.

Results: The mean age of patients was 48±11.7 years, duration of dialysis 2.2±1.4 years. Tramadol consumptions were observed in 40/70 (56%) of patients. Majority of tramadol consumption was found in 30/40 (75%) males, 23/40 (59%) between 40-59 years and 28/40 (70%) undergoing two dialyses per week and 13/40 (32.5) were diabetics. During our exploratory analysis, we found that 15/40 (38%) of tramadol users, were concurrently prescribed with clonidine as add on antihypertensive. We noticed that the tramadol pill count during the preceding week was 81 in patients concurrently using clonidine and 139 in the patients who were not using clonidine (p>0.05).

Conclusions: In our study, tramadol consumptions were observed in 56% of patients. We also noticed analgesic interaction between clonidine and tramadol.

References

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Published

2019-09-25

How to Cite

Saritha, M., & Mohan, P. R. (2019). Prescribing patterns of tramadol in hemodialysis patients. International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology, 8(10), 2216–2219. https://doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20194258

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Section

Original Research Articles