Researchers recruit first UK patient to pain relief study

A team of researchers at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH) have recruited the first participant onto a research study comparing the effectiveness of pain relief medicine tapentadol to morphine in children and young people.

Currently there is little medication on the market for controlling long term pain for children and young people. Tapentadol is already licensed for use in adults and has demonstrated less frequently observed side effects than other comparable medication. The aim of this trial is to evaluate how well tapentadol works to provide pain relief in young people by recruiting up to 200 6 to 18 year olds to determine the effectiveness in controlling their pain.

Dr Vesna Colovic, ‎Consultant Anaesthetist at RMCH is leading a research team at the NIHR/WT Manchester Clinical Research Facility based at RMCH to deliver part of the multicenter study in UK, which aims to recruit 200 children aged 6 to 18 years old.

The study will last for 12months and participants will be asked to keep a pain diary to record how the medication is making them feel each day and have regular checks to determine the effectiveness in controlling their pain.