Use of pain reliever tramadol may increase hip fracture risk in adults

Tramadol oral tablet is a prescription drug used to treat moderate to severe pain in adults.

Use of pain reliever tramadol may lead to a higher risk of hip fracture among adults 50 years or older a new study has revealed. The authors of the study suggested there is need to review the clinical practice guidelines on tramadol use.

Tramadol oral tablet is a prescription drug for treating moderate to severe pain in adults. It is available as an immediate-release and extended-release tablet. The drug also comes as an extended-release oral capsule. Tramadol oral tablets are available as both generic and brand-name drug Ultram.

Several professional organizations have recommended tramadol as one of the first line or second line therapies for patients with chronic noncancer pain. While its prescription is increasing rapidly worldwide, the safety profile of tramadol, such as risk of fracture, remains unclear, the researchers noted.

Association between tramadol use and hip fracture risk

To determine the side effects of tramadol use, the researchers analysed a patient database from the United Kingdom. They compared tramadol use with codeine, naproxen, ibuprofen, celecoxib, and etoricoxib use among adults aged 50 years or older.

All the patients were 50 years or older and they had no history of hip fracture, cancer, or opioid use disorder.

During the 1 year follow up, 518 hip fractures occurred among 146,956 patients taking tramadol. On the other hand, a total of 401 hip fractures occurred in participants taking codeine. The tramadol cohort also had a higher risk of hip fracture than those using naproxen, ibuprofen, celecoxib and etoricoxib.

Hip fracture can have significant impact on morbidity, mortality, and health care costs, noted study coauthor Guanghua Lei, MD, PhD. In a press release, he said that their study results point to the need to consider tramadol's associated risk of fracture in clinical practice and treatment guidelines.

The authors have published thier findings in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Central South University.