Intrathecal delivery of a pharmaceutically acceptable formulation for
intrathecal administration of any
drug selectively binding to this
receptor to provide pain can be used in any situation in which
intrathecal (“IT”) drugs are presently used for
pain management. In the preferred embodiment, the
drug is a triptan. In another embodiment, a combination of drugs with
triptans can be used instead of just the triptan. Exemplary conditions to be treated include
cancer pain, chronic
back pain, post-herpetic
neuralgia, and complex regional
pain syndrome types I or II, as well as post-traumatic pain, diabetic vasculopathy, inflammatory radiculopathy, inflammatory plexopathies such as brachial plexopathy (Parsonage Turner syndrome), or
lumbar plexopathy, HIV neuropathy,
chemotherapy-induced neuropathy (such as
vincristine toxicity), erythromelalgia, and inherited painful disorders such as metachromatic leukodystrophy, Friedreich's
ataxia, and Fabry's
disease. The
triptans can also be used in
acute pain management, such as in labor management or spinal
blockade for
surgery, where a spinal formulation of sumatriptan could be combined with traditional opiates for synergistic or additive effects.