TOPICAL FORMULATIONS FOR NEUROPATHIC PAIN

Abstract

Neuropathic pain affects a significant portion of the population. It is chronic in duration, and resistant to many conventional oral analgesics. Topical gabapentin and amitriptyline in various strengths and bases have been compounded by specialized pharmacies for years. Although there is some evidence of efficacy in the literature, there are also controversies as well because of lack of drug release, permeation and stability data. In this thesis, stability of amitriptyline and gabapentin in three different commonly used topical bases were investigated at three different temperatures over a 90-day period. In vitro drug release and permeation studies were also conducted using Franz diffusion cells. Data from these studies provided new evidence that will improve compounding services for neuropathic pain and patients’ quality of life.