Dextromethorphan as a Novel Non-opioid Adjunctive Agent for Pain Control in Medication Abortion
Summary
This study evaluates dextromethorphan as a non-opioid adjunctive medication for pain control during medication abortion. This is double-blinded, four-arm randomized controlled trial enrolling 156 women over a period of 9-12 months: Receiving narcotics+dextromethorphan, narcotics and placebo (microcrystalline cellulose), no narcotics and dextromethorphan and no narcotics and placebo (microcrystalline cellulose).
Timeline
- Start
- 2018-07-28
- Primary completion
- 2019-06-30
- Completion
- 2019-06-30
Outcome
Missed primary endpoint
paper Worst pain scores for participants receiving dextromethorphan versus placebo (8.0 vs 7.0, p = 0.06) did not differ. PMID 36332661 ↗
paper Total milligram usage of ibuprofen (800 mg vs 610 mg, p =.62), acetaminophen (1000 mg vs 1300 mg, p = 0.62), and opioids (10 mg vs 15 mg, p = 0.51) did not differ between the randomization groups. PMID 36332661 ↗
Publications
- Background Penney G. Treatment of pain during medical abortion. Contraception. 2006 Jul;74(1):45-7. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2006.03.002. Epub 2006 May 6.
- Background Weinbroum AA, Rudick V, Paret G, Ben-Abraham R. The role of dextromethorphan in pain control. Can J Anaesth. 2000 Jun;47(6):585-96. doi: 10.1007/BF03018952.
- Background Ilkjaer S, Nielsen PA, Bach LF, Wernberg M, Dahl JB. The effect of dextromethorphan, alone or in combination with ibuprofen, on postoperative pain after minor gynaecological surgery. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2000 Aug;44(7):873-7. doi: 10.1034/j.1399-6576.2000.440715.x.
- Background Christie A, Dagfinrud H, Dale O, Schulz T, Hagen KB. Collection of patient-reported outcomes;--text messages on mobile phones provide valid scores and high response rates. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2014 Apr 16;14:52. doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-14-52.
- Background Practice bulletin no. 143: medical management of first-trimester abortion. Obstet Gynecol. 2014 Mar;123(3):676-692. doi: 10.1097/01.AOG.0000444454.67279.7d.
- Ferguson GP, Achilles SL, Meyn LA, Krajewski CM, Chappell CA, Vinekar K, Chen BA. Dextromethorphan as a novel nonopioid adjunctive agent for pain control with medication abortion: A randomized controlled trial. Contraception. 2023 Feb;118:109908. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2022.10.010. Epub 2022 Nov 2.
Drugs
| Evaluation | Drug | Modality | Dose | Route |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Dextromethorphan | Unknown | 30 mg | — |
| Background | Oxycodone | Other / unclassified | — | — |
Indications
No indication recorded.