Use

Tapentadol is approved for the treatment of moderate to severe acute pain. Due to its dual mechanism of action as an opioid agonist and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, there is potential for its use in chronic pain. The test is a definitive assay using liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC/MS/MS) methodology. Therapeutic urine drug monitoring of tapentadol is important for ensuring compliance to treatment strategies. Urine or oral fluid are the specimens of choice for routine monitoring of patients taking prescription drugs. Use of serum/plasma should be limited to anuretic patients, or where a patient's clinical appearance does not coincide with their prescribed medications. No single monitoring approach provides adequate information about the pattern or dose of patient drug use. Safest prescribing habits should include a combination of tools and laboratory test results to correctly detect drug use patterns. Quantitative values cannot be used to assess the drug dose, because the drug is extensively metabolized and excreted in the urine.