Pharmacogenetic testing in acute and chronic pain: a preliminary study. [Test farmacogenetici nel dolore acuto e cronico: Uno studio preliminare].

Background. Pain is one of the most common symptoms that weighs on life's quality and health expenditure. In a reality in which increasingly personalized therapies are needed, the early use of genetic tests that highlight the individual response to analgesic drugs could be a valuable help in clinical practice helping to reduce response times, to achieve a good level of analgesia and to reduce the risk of side effects and adverse events. The study aims to confront the clinical response to analgesic drugs with the result of pharmacogenetic testing in patients with persistent pain. Methods. This preliminary study compares the genetic results of pharmacological effectiveness and tolerability analyzed with a Pharmacogenetic Test with the results obtained in clinical practice in 5 patients suffering from acute and chronic pain. Results. Regarding the genetic results of the 5 samples analyzed, 2 reports were found to be completely comparable to what found in clinical practice, while 3 reports showed that the profile of tolerability and effectiveness were partially discordant. Conclusions. In light of the data, not completely overlapping with results observed in clinical practice, further studies would be appropriate in order to acquire more information on the use of the PGT in clinical practice.