ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the various types of medications that can be used for the treatment of pain. Severe pain would mandate the use of the traditional opioids: morphine, hydromorphone, methadone, levorphanol, fentanyl, and oxycodone, with or without adjuvant medication. Neuropathic pain is defined as pain secondary to a dysfunction of the nervous system without active ongoing neural damage. While the most common treatments for nociceptive pain include anti-inflammatory and opioid medications, anticonvulsant medications (ACMs) are the first-line drugs for neuropathic pain. Both older and newer ACMs may be used in patients with neuropathic pain, migraine, essential tremor, spasticity, restless legs syndrome, and several psychiatric disorders including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), along with ACMs are considered first-line drugs for the treatment of neuropathic pain, and migraine. The TCAs are associated with weight gain and anticholinergic side effects.
