Caffeine in Pain Perception and Management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2021.11.08.036Keywords
affeine, pain, analgesiaAbstract
Introduction: Caffeine is considered to be one of the most frequently used pharmacologically active substances in the world. Caffeine is a psychoactive and central nervous system stimuli that has the ability to increase energy, decrease fatigue, promote alertness and wakefulness. Potential role of caffeine's nociceptive properties shows that it may play a relevant role in pain modulation. Although caffeine at dietary levels is not a sufficient analgesic in its own, it has been included in many over-the-counter and prescription drugs. This review addresses caffeine's analgesic properties in pain management.
Results: Caffeine shows relevant role in pain modulation through blocking adenosine receptors which are involved in nociception. Studies show that habitual dietary caffeine consumption results in decreased pain sensitivity.As an adjuvant to commonly used analgesics, caffeine provides an important increase in pain relief in various types of pain such as postoperative dental pain, headaches, or fibromyalgia.
Conclusions: In conclusion, caffeine is associated with decreased pain sensitivity. Addition of caffeine to analgesics has resulted in their enhanced analgesic efficacy in pain treatment.
References
Evans J, Richards JR, Battisti AS. Caffeine. [Updated 2020 Dec 2]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519490/
Ogawa N, Ueki H. Clinical importance of caffeine dependence and abuse. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007;61(3):263–268. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1819.2007.01652.x.
Verster JC, Koenig J. Caffeine intake and its sources: A review of national representative studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2018;58(8):1250-1259. doi:10.1080/10408398.2016.1247252
PubChem, Caffeine (2015) Available at: http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?q=all&cid=2519#. Accessed May 2021
Blanchard J, Sawers SJ. The absolute bioavailability of caffeine in man. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1983;24(1):93–98. doi: 10.1007/BF00613933.
McLellan TM, Caldwell JA, Lieberman HR. A review of caffeine's effects on cognitive, physical and occupational performance. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2016 Dec;71:294-312. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.001. Epub 2016 Sep 6. PMID: 27612937.
Glade MJ. Caffeine-Not just a stimulant. Nutrition. 2010 Oct;26(10):932-8. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2010.08.004. PMID: 20888549.
Cappelletti S, Piacentino D, Sani G, & Aromatario M (2015). Caffeine: cognitive and physical performance enhancer or psychoactive drug? Curr Neuropharmacol, 13(1), 71–88. 10.2174/1570159X13666141210215655
Lipton, Richard B et al. “Caffeine in the management of patients with headache.” The journal of headache and pain vol. 18,1 107. 24 Oct. 2017, doi:10.1186/s10194-017-0806-2
Baratloo A, Rouhipour A, Forouzanfar MM, Safari S, Amiri M, Negida A. The Role of Caffeine in Pain Management: A Brief Literature Review. Anesth Pain Med. 2016;6(3):e33193. Published 2016 Mar 26. doi:10.5812/aapm.33193
Derry CJ, Derry S, Moore RA. Caffeine as an analgesic adjuvant for acute pain in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD009281. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009281.pub3. Accessed 27 March 2021.
Derry S, Wiffen PJ, Moore RA. Single dose oral ibuprofen plus caffeine for acute postoperative pain in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 7. Art. No.: CD011509. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011509.pub2.
Baratloo A, Rouhipour A, Forouzanfar MM, Safari S, Amiri M, Negida A. The Role of Caffeine in Pain Management: A Brief Literature Review. Anesth Pain Med. 2016;6(3):e33193. Published 2016 Mar 26. doi:10.5812/aapm.33193
Overstreet DS, Penn TM, Cable ST, Aroke EN, Goodin BR. Higher habitual dietary caffeine consumption is related to lower experimental pain sensitivity in a community-based sample. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2018;235(11):3167-3176. doi:10.1007/s00213-018-5016-3
Baratloo A, Negida A, El Ashal G. Intravenous Caffeine for the Treatment of Acute Migraine: A Pilot Study. J Caffeine Res. 2015;5(3):125–9. doi: 10.1089/jcr.2015.0004.
Haskell-Ramsay CF, Jackson PA, Forster JS, Dodd FL, Bowerbank SL, Kennedy DO. The Acute Effects of Caffeinated Black Coffee on Cognition and Mood in Healthy Young and Older Adults. Nutrients. 2018;10(10):1386. Published 2018 Sep 30. doi:10.3390/nu10101386
Weiser T, Richter E, Hegewisch A, Muse DD, Lange R. Efficacy and safety of a fixed-dose combination of ibuprofen and caffeine in the management of moderate to severe dental pain after third molar extraction. Eur J Pain. 2018;22(1):28-38. doi:10.1002/ejp.1068
Förderreuther S, Lampert A, Hitier S, Lange R, Weiser T. The Impact of Baseline Pain Intensity on the Analgesic Efficacy of Ibuprofen/Caffeine in Patients with Acute Postoperative Dental Pain: Post Hoc Subgroup Analysis of a Randomised Controlled Trial. Adv Ther. 2020;37(6):2976-2987. doi:10.1007/s12325-020-01297-y
Ashraf Ragab & Khalid Noman Facharzt (2014) Caffeine, Is it effective for prevention of postdural puncture headache in young adult patients?, Egyptian Journal of Anaesthesia, 30:2, 181-186, DOI: 10.1016/j.egja.2013.11.005
Scott JR, Hassett AL, Brummett CM, Harris RE, Clauw DJ, Harte SE. Caffeine as an opioid analgesic adjuvant in fibromyalgia. J Pain Res. 2017;10:1801-1809. Published 2017 Jul 28. doi:10.2147/JPR.S134421
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The periodical offers access to content in the Open Access system under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 917
Number of citations: 0
