Zastosowanie pregabaliny u chorych z bólem neuropatycznym po radioterapii – przegląd piśmiennictwa

Abstract

Radiotherapy-induced neuropathy (RIPN) is an iatrogenic complication and a consequence of causal treatment of neoplastic disease. The risk of developing RIPN depends on the type of, but also on the patients’ factors. There is currently no proven method that can prevent the occurrence of RIPN, but modern radiotherapy techniques have reduced the risk of developing RIPN to about 1% of patients after irradiation. The most common symptoms in patients with RIPN are paraesthesia, hypoesthesia, and muscle weakness. Neuropathic pain may occur in around 50% of patients with RIPN and can only be treated symptomatically, both with pharmacotherapy and non-pharmacological methods. The recommended drugs are antiepileptics, antidepressants, opioid analgesics, and topical drugs. These drugs have proven their effectiveness in the population of patients with neuropathic pain unrelated to cancer treatment, but there are still no high-quality studies assessing their effectiveness in patients with RIPN. Randomized controlled studies available in the literature confirm the effectiveness of antiepileptics drugs in this group of patients, what is also observed in clinical practice.