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Effects of repeated tramadol and morphine administration on psychomotor and cognitive performance in opioid-dependent volunteers.
- Source :
-
Drug and alcohol dependence [Drug Alcohol Depend] 2010 Oct 01; Vol. 111 (3), pp. 265-8. Date of Electronic Publication: 2010 Jun 09. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- Tramadol is an atypical, mixed mechanism analgesic used to treat moderate to severe pain. Based on evidence that tramadol has relatively low abuse potential and can relieve opioid withdrawal, tramadol may be useful for treating opioid dependence. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance side-effect profile of tramadol. Nine opioid-dependent volunteers completed a performance battery following 5-7 days of subcutaneous morphine (15 mg, 4 times/day) and two doses of oral tramadol (50, 200 mg, 4 times/day) in a within subject cross-over design. Morphine was always the first condition, and the order of the two tramadol doses was randomized and double blind. Performance was significantly worse in the morphine condition relative to one or both tramadol doses on measures of psychomotor speed/coordination (circular lights task), psychomotor speed/pattern recognition (DSST speed measure) and psychomotor speed/set shifting (trail-making tasks). There were no significant differences among conditions in DSST accuracy, simple reaction time, divided attention, working memory, episodic memory, metamemory, or time estimation. Neither tramadol dose was associated with worse performance than morphine on any measure. Although practice sessions were conducted prior to the first session to reduce order effects, the possibility that residual practice effects contributed to the differences between tramadol and morphine cannot be ruled out. The high tramadol dose produced worse performance than the low dose only on the balance measure. These findings suggest that tramadol is generally a safe medication with respect to cognitive and psychomotor measures and support tramadol's further evaluation as an opioid-dependence treatment.<br /> (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Adult
Cognition physiology
Cross-Over Studies
Double-Blind Method
Drug Administration Schedule
Female
Humans
Male
Opioid-Related Disorders psychology
Psychomotor Performance physiology
Reaction Time drug effects
Reaction Time physiology
Cognition drug effects
Morphine administration & dosage
Opioid-Related Disorders drug therapy
Psychomotor Performance drug effects
Tramadol administration & dosage
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1879-0046
- Volume :
- 111
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Drug and alcohol dependence
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 20538418
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2010.05.002