Uso abusivo da oxicodona

Abstract

Abusive use of opioids is a public health problem due to its intense analgesic effect and activation of reward pathways. It has a high potential for drug addiction, and should be used with caution. It is known that oxycodone is one of the main representatives of this group. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of overdose deaths in the United States and other countries. Thus, the objective of this work is to review the scientific literature regarding the therapeutic and drug addiction relationship of oxycodone, focusing on epidemiological features and risk management. A integrative review was carried out in the PUBMED database, using the descriptors “Oxycodone AND abusive” with a time span of five years (2017 – 2022). Inclusion criteria was full available review papers. The abuse of oxycodone has been a challenge in the context that oxycodone is an essential drug in the therapy of acute and chronic pain related or not to cancer. Thus, the search for risk minimization is essential. The scientific literature proposes solutions to reduce the use of this drug or improve its safety profile through vaccines, special high-resistance formulations, or associations with antagonists. These are recent developed strategies with positive results in combating the opioid epidemic.