ABSTRACT
Several pharmacological alternatives are currently available for the management of chronic neuropathic pain. The two major classes of drugs that have been studied in randomized and controlled trials (RCTs) are antidepressants and anticon vulsants. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses indicate that tricyclic antidepressants are the most effective class of drugs studied in neuropathic pain (Finnerup et al., 2010). Most of the studies on tricyclic antidepressants are relatively old, and the total number of patients studied is small. Tricyclic antidepressants have several pharmacological actions that may explain their ef•cacy. However, some of the adverse effects of this class of drugs make them problematic to use, particularly in the elderly.
