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Tapentadol abuse and dependence in India.

Diptadhi Mukherjee,Lekhansh Shukla,P. Saha,J. Mahadevan,Arun Kandasamy,P. Chand,V. Benegal,P. Murthy

Published 2020 in Asian Journal of Psychiatry

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND Tapentadol is a synthetic opioid analgesic available in India since 2011. International evidence suggests a low risk of abuse and diversion. Our study aims to question this perception in Indian context. METHOD We report the trend and profile of Tapentadol abuse cases that were treated at a tertiary level addiction treatment centre in southern India. We also describe the ease of repurposing oral tablets of Tapentadol into an injection. At the national level, we have examined the temporal and spatial trends of online interest in Tapentadol and compared it with a non-opioid drug Ilaprazole and an opioid drug Tramadol using Google Trends. We have used the National Drug Use Survey 2019 to illustrate the regional data. RESULTS 23 cases of Tapentadol abuse sought treatment between 01/01/2011 and 30/08/2019. In last one year, the number of cases has more than doubled. A majority (N = 19, 83 %) of cases had intravenous Tapentadol abuse, needle sharing and 60 % were diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Tapentadol is attracting new users (N = 13, 56.5 %) as well as replacing other opioids (N = 10, 43.5 %) amongst drug users. Tapentadol has received more online interest than Ilaprazole. Temporal and spatial trends of online interest in Tapentadol parallel Tramadol. States with high prevalence of opioid users have shown high online interest in both opioid drugs. CONCLUSION Tapentadol is being widely abused, and urgent regulatory measures are required.

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