Piritramide (
R-3365, trade names
Dipidolor,
Piridolan,
Pirium and others) is a synthetic
opioid analgesic (narcotic painkiller) that is marketed in certain
European countries including:
Austria,
Belgium,
Czech Republic,
Germany and the
Netherlands. It comes in free form, is about 0.75x times as potent as
morphine and is given
parenterally (by injection) for the treatment of severe pain. Nausea, vomiting, respiratory depression and constipation are believed to be less frequent with piritramide than with
morphine (which is the gold standard opioid against which other opioids are compared and contrasted against) and it produces more rapid-onset analgesia (pain relief) when compared to morphine and
pethidine, after intravenous administration the onset of analgesia is as little as 1–2 minutes, which may be related to its great
lipophilicity. The analgesic and sedative effects of piritramide are believed to be potentiated with phenothiazines and its emetic (nausea/vomiting-inducing) effects are suppressed. The
volume of distribution is 0.7-1 L/kg after a single dose, 4.7-6 L/kg after steady-state concentrations are achieved and up to 11.1 L/kg after prolonged dosing.