Systematic Review of the Therapeutic Efficacy and Safety of Oxycodone Hydrochloride Sustained-release Tablets in the Treatment of Severe Cancer Pain by Oral and Rectal Administration

OBJECTIVE To systematically review the efficacy and safety of Oxycodone hydrochloride sustained-release tablets in the treatment of severe cancer pain by oral and rectal administration. METHODS Retrieved from PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP, CBM and Wanfang database, randomized controlled trails (RCT) about oxycodone by oral and rectal administration in the treatment of severe cancer pain were included from establishment to March 2016 and comprehensively evaluated. Literature quality was evaluated according to Cochrane system evaluation manual. RESULTS A total of 10 RCTs involving 642 patients were included in this study. The primary end point was clinical efficacy, and the secondary end point was adverse reactions (nausea and vomiting, astriction, drowsiness). This study only made description analysis without a quantitative analysis, because the included studies had low quality and publication bias. The results of systematic review showed that there was no significant difference between rectal administration and oral administration on the clinical efficacy with oxycodone hydrochloride sustained-release tablets. And oxycodone hydrochloride sustained-release tablets were associated with less nausea and vomiting, astriction, drowsiness by rectal administration. CONCLUSION The efficacy of oxycodone hydrochloride sustained-release tablets rectal administration may be similar to oral administration for severe cancer pain, and the adverse events of rectal administration is lower. Because of the limited quantity and quality of currently-available research, the aforementioned conclusion should be verified by strictly-designed and large-scale sample RCTs.