Introduction
Novaminsulfone is a prescription-only medicine containing the active ingredient metamizole and may only be used on the instructions of a doctor. Novaminsulfone has analgesic, antipyretic and antispasmodic properties. Novaminsulfone is used for acute severe pain after injuries and operations, for cramp-like pain such as biliary and urinary tract colic, for tumor pain or comparable severe pain conditions.
Novaminsulfone is also effective in cases of high fever, which cannot be reduced by other measures. In acute pain and chronic severe pain, novamine sulfone is a potent painkiller when other treatment measures cannot be used. The active ingredient metamizole is controversially discussed due to its possible adverse effects and is rarely prescribed.
However, the active ingredient in novamizole has very good antipyretic and analgesic properties, which is why it is still widely used in hospitals. Novaminesulfone is often used as a reserve drug. This means that novamine sulfone is used when other measures have not been successful.
Application
Novamine sulfone is usually available as tablets, film-coated tablets, effervescent tablets, oral solutions and suppositories for children. The treating physician typically determines which dosage form is suitable for treatment. Novamine sulfone is often used to relieve the pain symptoms of herniated discs.
High fever can be reduced well with novamine sulfone. Novamine sulfone can also be used in cases of joint pain due to overstrain, pain caused by a so-called lumbago (acute lumbar syndrome) or ischialgia. Other areas of application for novamine sulfone are measles, meningitis, ankylosing spondylitis and glandular fever. Novamine sulfone is also effective for severe to very severe pain for which the use of opioid painkillers (such as morphine) is not yet indicated, for example bruises, headaches, toothache, abdominal pain, muscle pain or back pain.
Effect
Novamine sulfone belongs to the non-acidic antipyretic analgesics from the group of non-opioid analgesics. The mechanism of action of the active ingredient metamizole has not yet been fully clarified. It is assumed that it attacks the central nervous system (spinal cord and brain), but is also effective in the rest of the body tissue.
Novamizole seems to inhibit the transmission of pain from the site of pain to the brain (site of pain perception). This pain transmission is via certain tissue hormones, the so-called prostaglandins. These prostaglandins are inflammation-promoting messenger substances that are involved in the perception of pain.
Inhibition of the prostaglandins by novamine sulfone leads to pain relief (analgesia) by reducing the sensitivity of the pain receptors in the tissue. Since the active ingredient of novaminesulfone also influences the pain-conducting nerve tracts in the brain and spinal cord, it also has a dampening effect on the perception of pain. In addition to pain relief, novamine sulfone also has a muscle-relaxing or antispasmodic effect.
Further mechanisms of action are suspected and discussed. The effect of Metamizol is similar to that of acidic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (so-called NSAIDs, e.g. acetylsalicylic acid, ibupforen). However, since Metamizole is a non-acidic active substance, it does not or hardly accumulate in inflamed tissue and thus does not have an anti-inflammatory (antiphlogistic) effect in contrast to the acidic NSAIDs.
