Tramadol dependence in the addiction unit of Baghdad: a cross sectional study

Objective: Tramadol is one of the most prescribed centrally-acting analgesics in the world. It has been widely used in Iraq over the last few years. There are many contradicting studies about the potential risk of Tramadol abuse in the world. In this piece of work, we have tried to describe a group of patients presenting with Tramadol abuse who were referred to the main addiction unit in Baghdad Method: 36 patients referred to the addiction unit in Ibn-Rushed Mental Teaching Hospital in Baghdad with Tramadol abuse problems were screened and included in this cross-sectional study. Results: 78% were males and 22% were females ranging in ages 16-57 years (M=27years). From the sample, 90% were on Tramadol alone and a further 10% were on poly drugs; about 92% of them were iatrogenic abusers. Most of the patients were without previous history of drug abuse. More than one fifth of the patients had at least one seizure. Approximately one fifth of the sample were health professionals. Conclusion: Tramadol is freely and widely used in Iraq. Tramadol has a clear risk of causing dependency syndrome and this has been nearly almost always iatrogenic in our study sample. Tramadol abuse seems to be a growing problem in Iraq.