Login Register Cart 0
Generic placeholder image

Current Reviews in Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 2772-4328
ISSN (Online): 2772-4336

Back
Journal Home About Journal Editorial Board Current Issue Volumes/Issues
Subscribe
Review Article

Clinical Studies that Initiated the Use of Spinal Opioids for the Treatment of Pain: A New Approach to Historical Review

Author(s): Igor Kissin*

Volume 19, Issue 1, 2024

Published on: 27 August, 2022

Page: [61 - 67] Pages: 7

DOI: 10.2174/2772432817666220609093243

open access plus

Abstract

Opioids administered into the spinal space by intrathecal or epidural routes can provide potent and prolonged selective analgesia. Compared to the systemic administration of opioids, spinal administration can bring about analgesia with fewer central and systemic adverse effects. For the past 40 years, spinal opioid analgesia has achieved great popularity in various fields of pain treatment. The aim of this work is to identify clinical studies that initiated the use of spinal opioids for the treatment of pain.

To determine the historical role of each of the review’s studies, we used the combination of two factors: the study priority in terms of the time of its publication and the degree of its acknowledgement in the form of citation impact. The date of publication was regarded as the primary factor, but only if the count of citations indicated a sufficient acknowledgement by the other authors. The citation impact was assessed as the initial citation count – for a period of five years after the year of article publication – and the total count.

Analysis of the related data shows that the clinical studies initiating the use of spinal opioids for the treatment of pain belong to two groups of authors – Wang et al. and Behar et al. Both studies were published in 1979 and described delivery of morphine into the spinal space, although the techniques of administration were different: Wang et al. injected morphine intrathecally, Behar et al. administered morphine epidurally. The response to these studies was overwhelming - close to a dozen reports on this topic were published in 1979 and more than a hundred – in 1980-1981. The total citation response to the Wang et al. article reached 699, and that to Behar et al. – 518. Two earlier records (1900-1901) of the use of intrathecal morphine, by Nicolae Racoviceanu-Pitesti and Otojiro Kitagawa, found no following in medical literature for more than three quarters of a century.

Keywords: Epidural analgesia, citation impact, clinical trials, intrathecal analgesia, opioids, priority rules.

« Previous Next »
[1]
Yaksh TL. Spinal opiate analgesia: Characteristics and principles of action. Pain 1981; 11(3): 293-346.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-3959(81)90633-3] [PMID: 6276842]
[2]
Rawal N. Epidural and spinal agents for postoperative analgesia. Surg Clin North Am 1999; 79(2): 313-44.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0039-6109(05)70385-6] [PMID: 10352657]
[3]
Kitahata LM, Collins JG. Spinal action of narcotic analgesics. Anesthesiology 1981; 54(2): 153-63.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00000542-198102000-00010] [PMID: 6110388]
[4]
Cousins MJ, Mather LE. Intrathecal and epidural administration of opioids. Anesthesiology 1984; 61(3): 276-310.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00000542-198409000-00008] [PMID: 6206753]
[5]
Merton RK. Priority in scientific discovery: A chapter in the sociology of science 1957; 635-59.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2089193]
[6]
Stevens M. The role of the priority rule in science. J Philos 2003; 100: 55-79.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/jphil2003100224]
[7]
Vale RD, Hyman AA. Priority of discovery in the life sciences. eLife 2016; 5: e16931.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16931] [PMID: 27310529]
[8]
Wang JK, Nauss LA, Thomas JE. Pain relief by intrathecally applied morphine in man. Anesthesiology 1979; 50(2): 149-51.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00000542-197902000-00013] [PMID: 373503]
[9]
Behar M, Magora F, Olshwang D, Davidson JT. Epidural morphine in treatment of pain. Lancet 1979; 1(8115): 527-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(79)90947-4]
[10]
Cousins MJ, Mather LE, Glynn CJ, Wilson PR, Graham JR. Selective spinal analgesia. Lancet 1979; 1(8126): 1141-2.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(79)91817-8]
[11]
Magora F, Olshwang D, Eimerl D, et al. Observations on extradural morphine analgesia in various pain conditions. Br J Anaesth 1980; 52(3): 247-52.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bja/52.3.247] [PMID: 7370140]
[12]
Bromage PR, Camporesi E, Chestnut D. Epidural narcotics for postoperative analgesia. Anesth Analg 1980; 59(7): 473-80.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1213/00000539-198007000-00003] [PMID: 6105830]
[13]
Wang JK. Analgesic effect of intrathecally administered morphine. Reg Anesth 1977; 2: 3-8.
[14]
Wang JK. Pain relief by intrathecal injection of serotonin or morphine. Ann Anesthesiol Fr 1978; 19(5): 371-2.
[15]
Samii K, Feret J, Harari A, Viars P. Selective spinal analgesia. Lancet 197; 1(8126): 1142.
[16]
Scott DB, McClure J. Selective epidural analgesia. Lancet 1979; 1(8131): 1410-1.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(79)92049-X]
[17]
Glynn CJ, Mather LE, Cousins MJ, Wilson PR, Graham JR. Spinal narcotics and respiratory depression. Lancet 1979; 2(8138): 356-7.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(79)90365-9]
[18]
Liolios A, Andersen FH. Selective spinal analgesia. Lancet 1979; 2(8138): 357.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(79)90366-0]
[19]
Wang JK. Antinociceptive effect of intrathecally administered serotonin. Anesthesiology 1977; 47(3): 269-71.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00000542-197709000-00007] [PMID: 578085]
[20]
Pert CB, Kuhar MJ, Snyder SH. Opiate receptor: Autoradiographic localization in rat brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci 1976; 73(10): 3729-33.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.73.10.3729] [PMID: 185626]
[21]
Yaksh TL, Rudy TA. Analgesia mediated by a direct spinal action of narcotics. Science 1976; 192(4246): 1357-8.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1273597] [PMID: 1273597]
[22]
Yaksh TL, Huang SP, Rudy TA. The direct and specific opiate-like effect of met5-enkephalin and analogues on the spinal cord. Neuroscience 1977; 2(4): 593-6.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0306-4522(77)90055-0] [PMID: 917285]
[23]
Snyder SH. Opiate receptors in the brain. N Engl J Med 1977; 296(5): 266-71.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJM197702032960511]
[24]
Snyder SH. Opiate receptors and internal opiates. Sci Am 1977; 236(3): 44-56.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0377-44] [PMID: 190676]
[25]
Yaksh TL, Yeung JC, Rudy TA, Plant R. Evidence for an analgetic action of morphine in spinal cord. Fed Am Soc Exp Biol 1976; 35: 385.
[26]
Yaksh TL, Rudy TA. Studies on the direct spinal action of narcotics in the production of analgesia in the rat. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1977; 202(2): 411-28.
[27]
Yaksh TL, Frederickson RC, Huang SP, Rudy TA. In vivo comparison of the receptor populations acted upon in the spinal cord by morphine and pentapeptides in the production of analgesia. Brain Res 1978; 148(2): 516-20.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(78)90740-0] [PMID: 207391]
[28]
Yaksh TL, Wilson PR. Spinal serotonin terminal system mediates antinociception. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1979; 208(3): 446-53.
[PMID: 581884]
[29]
Yaksh TL, Wilson PR, Kaiko RF, Inturrisi CE. Analgesia produced by a spinal action of morphine and effects upon parturition in the rat. Anesthesiology 1979; 51(5): 386-92.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00000542-197911000-00004] [PMID: 582883]
[30]
Yaksh TL, Rudy TA. Narcotic analgestics: CNS sites and mechanisms of action as revealed by intracerebral injection techniques. Pain 1978; 4(4): 299-359.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-3959(77)90145-2]
[31]
Calvillo O, Henry JL, Neuman RS. Effects of morphine and naloxone on dorsal horn neurones in the cat. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 1974; 52(6): 1207-11.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/y74-158] [PMID: 4451892]
[32]
Kitahata LM, Kosaka Y, Taub A, Bonikos K, Hoffert M. Lamina-specific suppression of dorsal-horn unit activity by morphine sulfate. Anesthesiology 1974; 41(1): 39-48.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00000542-197407000-00008] [PMID: 4834376]
[33]
Le Bars D, Menetrey D, Conseiller C, Besson JM. Comparaison chez le chat spinal et le chat. CR Acad Sci 1974; 273: 1369-71.
[34]
Yaksh TL. Analgetic actions of intrathecal opiates in cat and primate. Brain Res 1978; 153(1): 205-10.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(78)91146-0]
[35]
Bier A. Versuche uber cocainisirung des ruckenmarkes. Dtsch Z Chir 1889; 51: 361-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02792160]
[36]
Racoviceanu-Pitesti N. Anesthesia generala prin cocaina. Rev Chir 1900; 4: 11-22.
[37]
Matsuki A. Nothing new under the sun-a Japanese pioneer in the clinical use of intrathecal morphine. Anesthesiology 1983; 58(3): 289-90.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00000542-198303000-00023] [PMID: 6338764]
[38]
Benedetti C. Intraspinal analgesia: A historical overview. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand Suppl 1987; 85: 17-24.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-6576.1987.tb02666.x] [PMID: 3310497]
[39]
Brill S, Gurman GM, Fisher A. A history of neuraxial administration of local analgesics and opioids. Eur J Anaesthesiol 2003; 20(9): 682-9.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00003643-200309000-00002] [PMID: 12974588]
[40]
Morgan M. The rational use of intrathecal and extradural opioids. Br J Anaesth 1989; 63(2): 165-88.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bja/63.2.165] [PMID: 2669907]
[41]
Magora F. Historical data on the neuraxial administration of opioids. Eur J Anaesthesiol 2004; 21(4): 329-30.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00003643-200404000-00019] [PMID: 15109202]
[42]
Winnie AP. Epidural and intrathecal opiates. New uses for old drugs. Anesthesiol Rev 1980; 7: 8-10.
[43]
Vlassakov KV, Kissin I. Scientometrics of anesthetic drugs and their techniques of administration, 1984-2013. Drug Des Devel Ther 2014; 8: 2463-73.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S73862] [PMID: 25525336]
[44]
Hurley RW, Murphy JD, Wu CL. Acute postoperative pain. In: Miller RD, Ed. Miller’s Anesthesia. (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA, USA: Elsevier: Saunders 2020; pp. 2974-98.

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
Article Metrics
11
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy