Δ9-THC (Namisol®) in Chronic Pancreatitis Patients Suffering From Persistent Abdominal Pain
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2014-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Abdominal pain resulting from chronic pancreatitis (CP) is often recurrent, intense and
long-lasting, and is extremely difficult to treat. Medical analgesic therapy is considered as
first choice in pain management of CP, resulting in regularly prescription of opioids. The
adverse consequences of prolonged opioid use, including addiction, tolerance and opioid
induced hyperalgesia, call for an alternative medical treatment. Cannabis has been used to
treat pain for many centuries. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), the psychoactive
substance of the cannabis plant, has been shown in previous studies to be a promising
analgesic. The development of Namisol®, a tablet containing purified Δ9-THC showing an
improved pharmacokinetic profile, provides the opportunity to test the analgesic potential of
Δ9-THC in favourable conditions. The current study aims to investigate the analgesic efficacy
of Namisol® as add-on analgesic during a long-term treatment (52 days) of abdominal pain
resulting from CP.