Table 3 Initial treatments by condition and combination of therapeutic class
Post-herpetic neuralgia | Painful diabetic neuropathy | Phantom limb pain | Neuropathic back pain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
Total treated | 3,831 (100) | 3,513 (100) | 90 (100) | 78,417 (100) |
Anaesthetics alone | 4 (<0.1) | 1 (<0.1) | 0 | 3 (<0.1) |
Antiepileptics alone | 526 (13.7) | 892 (25.4) | 27 (30.0) | 3,030 (3.9) |
Non-opioid analgesics alone | 223 (5.8) | 225 (6.4) | 10 (11.1) | 3,622 (4.6) |
Opioid analgesics alone | 296 (7.7) | 254 (7.2) | 17 (19.0) | 25,903 (33.0) |
Other antidepressants alone | 23 (0.6) | 79 (2.2) | 0 | 3,007 (3.8) |
Rubefacients alone | 220 (5.7) | 142 (4.0) | 1 (1.1) | 666 (0.8) |
Tricyclic antidepressants alone | 1,223 (31.9) | 1,328 (37.8) | 16 (17.8) | 13,901 (17.7) |
Anaesthetics + tricyclic antidepressants | 1 (<0.1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Antiepileptics + non-opioid analgesics | 9 (0.2) | 9 (0.3) | 1 (1.1) | 104 (0.1) |
Antiepileptics + opioid analgesics | 19 (0.5) | 19 (0.5) | 3 (3.3) | 224 (0.3) |
Antiepileptics + other antidepressants | 4 (0.1) | 5 (0.1) | 1 (1.1) | 84 (0.1) |
Antiepileptics + rubefacients | 13 (0.3) | 9 (0.3) | 0 | 9 (<0.1) |
Antiepileptics + tricyclic antidepressants | 10 (0.3) | 7 (0.2) | 2 (2.2) | 100 (0.1) |
Non-opioid analgesics + other antidepressants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 133 (0.2) |
Non-opioid analgesics + rubefacients | 5 (0.1) | 1 (<0.1) | 0 | 44 (<0.1) |
Non-opioid analgesics + tricyclic antidepressants | 34 (0.9) | 16 (0.5) | 0 | 567 (0.7) |
Opioid analgesics + non-opioid analgesics | 873 (22.8) | 412 (11.7) | 7 (7.8) | 20,651 (26.3) |
Opioid analgesics + other antidepressants | 0 | 3 (0.1) | 2 (2.2) | 358 (0.5) |
Opioid analgesics + rubefacients | 7 (0.2) | 2 (0.1) | 0 | 26 (<0.1) |
Opioid analgesics + tricyclic antidepressants | 54 (1.4) | 21 (0.6) | 0 | 1,147 (1.5) |
Other antidepressants + tricyclic antidepressants | 1 (<0.1) | 4 (0.1) | 0 | 120 (0.2) |
Rubefacients + tricyclic antidepressants | 55 (1.4) | 11 (0.3) | 0 | 20 (<0.1) |
1 therapeutic class | 2,515 (65.6) | 2.921 (83.1) | 71 (78.9) | 50,132 (63.9) |
2 therapeutic classes | 1,085 (28.3) | 519 (14.8) | 16 (17.8) | 23,590 (30.1) |
3 or more therapeutic classes | 231 (6.0) | 73 (2.1) | 3 (3.3) | 4,695 (6.0) |
Antidepressant or antiepileptic | 2184 (57.0) | 2,475 (70.5) | 55 (61.1) | 27,319 (34.8) |
Analgesic alone (opioid or non-opioid) | 1,392 (36.3) | 891 (25.4) | 34 (37.8) | 50,176 (64.0) |