page_title: Tramadol
section_title: Medical uses
hierarchical_section_title: Tramadol / Medical uses
caption_attribution_description: English: A sample of Tramadol Hydrochloride for injection, 100 mg/ml
context_page_description: Tramadol, sold under the brand name Ultram among others, is an opioid pain medication used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain. When taken by mouth in an immediate-release formulation, the onset of pain relief usually begins within an hour. It is also available by injection. It may be sold in combination with paracetamol or as longer-acting formulations.
  As is typical of opioids, common side effects include constipation, itchiness, and nausea. Serious side effects may include seizures, increased risk of serotonin syndrome, decreased alertness, and drug addiction. A change in dosage may be recommended in those with kidney or liver problems. It is not recommended in those who are at risk of suicide or in those who are pregnant. While not recommended in women who are breastfeeding, those who take a single dose should not generally stop breastfeeding. Tramadol is converted in the liver to O-desmethyltramadol, an opioid with stronger binding to the μ-opioid receptor. Tramadol is also a serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor.
  Tramadol was patented in 1963 and launched under the name "Tramal" in 1977 by the West German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal GmbH.
context_section_description: Tramadol is used primarily to treat mild to severe pain, both acute and chronic. There is fair evidence for use as a second-line treatment for fibromyalgia but is not FDA approved for this use.
  Its analgesic effects take about one hour to come into effect and 2 to 4 h to peak after oral administration with an immediate-release formulation. On a dose-by-dose basis, tramadol has about one-tenth the potency of morphine and is practically equally potent when compared with pethidine and codeine. For pain moderate in severity, its effectiveness is equivalent to that of morphine; for severe pain it is less effective than morphine. These painkilling effects last about 6 h. The potency of analgesia varies considerably as it depends on an individual's genetics. People with specific variants of CYP2D6 enzymes may not produce adequate amounts of the active metabolite (desmetramadol) for effective pain control.
caption: Tramadol HCl for injection
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