Nalbuphine: an underrecognized battlefield analgesic and its utilization in combat care and peripheral areas

Abstract

Battlefield injuries result in acute and severe uncontrolled pain, which can be reduced with the early use of analgesia. Apart from pain, battlefield injuries may also cause significant morbidity and a prolonged period of absence from active duty. Traditionally available opioids are known to cause various undesirable side effects such as respiratory depression that may worsen the condition of an already injured combatant. Nalbuphine is an opioid agonist-antagonist and has been increasingly used for postoperative analgesia over the last decade. In India, it is the only opioid analgesic that does not come under the Controlled Substances Act at the time of this publication. In today's world, where nalbuphine is being recommended for acute pain worldwide, its use in the Indian combat scenario needs to be conceptualized at the medical officer level (primary caregiver). This conceptualization will be discussed in detail in this review article.