Tolerance and Opioid Use Disorder (abuse and dependence)
Tolerance, physical and psychological dependence, and opioid use disorder (OUD) may develop upon repeated administration of opioids. Abuse or intentional misuse of opioids may result in overdose and/or death. The risk of developing OUD is increased in patients with a personal or a family history (parents or siblings) of substance use disorders (including alcohol use disorder), in current tobacco users or in patients with a personal history of other mental health disorders (e.g. major depression, anxiety and personality disorders).
Patients will require monitoring for signs of drug-seeking behaviour (e.g. too early requests for refills). This includes the review of concomitant opioids and psycho-active drugs (like benzodiazepines). For patients with signs and symptoms of OUD, consultation with an addiction specialist should be considered.
Risk from concomitant use of sedating medicinal products such as benzodiazepines or related substances
Concomitant use of Tapentadol Krka and sedating medicinal products such as benzodiazepines or related substances may result in sedation, respiratory depression, coma and death. Because of these risks, concomitant prescribing with these sedating medicinal products should be reserved for patients for whom alternative treatment options are not possible. If a decision is made to prescribe Tapentadol Krka concomitantly with sedating medicinal products, the reduction of dose of one or both agents should be considered and the duration of the concomitant treatment should be as short as possible.
The patients should be followed closely for signs and symptoms of respiratory depression and sedation. In this respect, it is strongly recommended to inform patients and their caregivers to be aware of these symptoms (see section 4.5).
Respiratory Depression
At high doses or in mu-opioid receptor agonist sensitive patients, Tapentadol Krka may produce dose-related respiratory depression. Therefore, Tapentadol Krka should be administered with caution to patients with impaired respiratory functions. Alternative non-mu-opioid receptor agonist analgesics should be considered and Tapentadol Krka should be employed only under careful medical supervision at the lowest effective dose in such patients. If respiratory depression occurs, it should be treated as any mu-opioid receptor agonist-induced respiratory depression (see section 4.9).
Head Injury and Increased Intracranial Pressure
Tapentadol Krka should not be used in patients who may be particularly susceptible to the intracranial effects of carbon dioxide retention such as those with evidence of increased intracranial pressure, impaired consciousness, or coma. Analgesics with mu-opioid receptor agonist activity may obscure the clinical course of patients with head injury. Tapentadol Krka should be used with caution in patients with head injury and brain tumors.
Seizures
Tapentadol has not been systematically evaluated in patients with a seizure disorder, and such patients were excluded from clinical trials. However, like other analgesics with mu-opioid agonist activity Tapentadol Krka is not recommended in patients with a history of a seizure disorder or any condition that would put the patient at risk of seizures. In addition, tapentadol may increase the seizure risk in patients taking other medicinal products that lower the seizure threshold (see section 4.5).
Renal Impairment
Tapentadol has not been studied in controlled efficacy trials in patients with severe renal impairment, therefore the use in this population is not recommended (see section 4.2 and 5.2).
Hepatic impairment
Subjects with mild and moderate hepatic impairment showed a 2-fold and 4.5-fold increase in systemic exposure, respectively, compared with subjects with normal hepatic function. Tapentadol Krka should be used with caution in patients with moderate hepatic impairment (see section 4.2 and 5.2), especially upon initiation of treatment.
Tapentadol has not been studied in patients with severe hepatic impairment and therefore, use in this population is not recommended (see sections 4.2 and 5.2).
Use in Pancreatic/Biliary Tract Disease
Active substances with mu-opioid receptor agonist activity may cause spasm of the sphincter of Oddi. Tapentadol Krka should be used with caution in patients with biliary tract disease, including acute pancreatitis.
Sleep-related breathing disorders
Opioids can cause sleep-related breathing disorders including central sleep apnea (CSA) and sleep-related hypoxemia. Opioid use increases the risk of CSA in a dose-dependent fashion. In patients who present with CSA, consider decreasing the total opioid dosage.
Opioid-induced ventilatory impairment and persistent post-operative opioid use
Do not use for acute post-operative pain owing to the increased risk of persistent post-operative opioid use (PPOU) and opioid-induced ventilatory impairment (OIVI)
Mixed opioid agonists/antagonists
Care should be taken when combining Tapentadol Krka with mixed mu-opioid agonist/antagonists (like pentazocine, nalbuphine) or partial mu-opioid agonists (like buprenorphine). In patients maintained on buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid dependence, alternative treatment options (like e.g. temporary buprenorphine discontinuation) should be considered, if administration of full mu-agonists (like tapentadol) becomes necessary in acute pain situations. On combined use with buprenorphine, higher dose requirements for full mu-receptor agonists have been reported and close monitoring of adverse events such as respiratory depression is required in such circumstances.
Tapentadol Krka contains lactose. Patients with rare hereditary problems of galactose intolerance, total lactase deficiency or glucose-galactose malabsorption, should not take this medicine.