Treatment of Chronic Neuropathic Pain

Abstract

Some drugs used to treat new onset sciatica are also effective for treating chronic sciatica but there can be problems with long-term usage. For example, anti-inflammatory COX inhibitors such as the NSAIDs are helpful for treating chronic sciatica associated with inflammation such as due to osteoarthritis. With chronic high doses, however, irritation and bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract are common. Toward the end of the twentieth century pharmaceutical companies rushed to develop COX inhibitors with fewer side effects. In 1999 Merck and Co. received FDA approval for the selective COX-2 inhibitor, rofecoxib (Vioxx) and in 2001, Searle and Co. obtained FDA approval for celecoxib (Celebrex). Both companies marketed the drugs as the new wonder drugs for treating chronic arthritic pain.