Common painkiller tramadol associated with higher risk of serious cardiac events: study

Il common painkiller tramadol would have limited effects in reducing the chronic painis also associated with a significant increase in the risk of serious adverse outcomes come heart disease potentially deadly. This is what emerged from a new, in-depth study published in the authoritative scientific journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, which compared the outcomes of taking theanalgesic with a placebo. Tramadol, as explained by the Humanitas Institute, is an analgesic that reduces pain “without treating the cause that triggers it”, which works by modifying “the levels of norepinephrine and serotonin, two hormones, in the brain.” This is a synthetic opioid used for decades to treat pain from moderate a graveincluding neuralgia and headache. In the United States it is among the most prescribed because it has a reduced risk of addiction (albeit present) compared to ossicodone and other strong opioids. In light of its properties, tramadol is also used as recreational drug and in Italy the cases of requests with are multiplying fake recipes by young people, as pharmacist33.it reports. In fact, this painkiller can only be accessed via medical prescription. According to the new study, however, i benefits would be limited with respect to potential risks.

Determining that tramadol is associated with a significantly higher risk of adverse outcomes such as heart attack, chest pain, congestive heart failure and other conditions was a Danish research team led by scientists from the Copenhagen Experimental Unit – Center for Clinical Intervention Research at Rigshospitalet, who collaborated closely with colleagues from various institutes. Among those involved are the Department of Radiology at Copenhagen University Hospital, North Zealand Hospital, the Center for Anesthesiology Research at Zeeland University Hospital Koge and the Department of Regional Health Research at the University of Southern Denmark. The researchers, coordinated by Professor Janus Christian Jakobsen, reached their conclusions after conducting a meta analysis Of 19 randomized clinical trials (published until February 2025) in which clinical outcomes were compared in adults treated with tramadol or a placebo. They were involved in everything over 6,500 people with an average age of 58 years (who are at risk of cardiac events, so potential biases were also assessed). The participants suffered from neuropathic pain, osteoarthritis e chronic lower back pain.

Cross-referencing the data revealed that people taking tramadol had a risk more than double statistically significant to develop serious adverse outcomes. “Beta binomial regression showed evidence of a detrimental effect of tramadol on serious adverse events (OR 2.13; 97.5% CI 1.29 to 3.51; p = 0.001; moderate certainty of the evidence), mainly due to a higher proportion of cardiac events e neoplasms“, write Professor Jakobsen and colleagues in the study abstract. Simply put, taking tramadol in this cohort of participants was associated with a risk of 113 percent higher to experience adverse events such as coronary artery disease (CAD), congestive heart failure, tumors and more. An increase in was also observed side effects minors, although with a limited degree of certainty: “Meta-analysis and sequential analysis of studies demonstrated that tramadol increased the risk of several non-serious adverse events, including nausea, dizziness, constipation and drowsiness (all with very low certainty of evidence),” explained the authors of the study.

Despite being prescribed for a long time, the meta-analysis of 19 studies suggests that tramadol has a limited beneficial effect on chronic painalbeit present: “The effect size was smaller than our predefined minimum important difference of 1.0 point on the NRS (acronym for Numeric Rating Scale NDR).” In light of these findings, the researchers believe that the potential adverse effects of tramadol used in pain management”probably outweigh the limited benefits”, which is why they suggest doctors to evaluate some alternativealthough they do not expressly instruct the competent authorities to re-evaluate the safety of the drug. The details of the research “Tramadol versus placebo for chronic pain: a systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis” were published in BMJ.