Acute Pain Crisis Caused by Tramadol Remdesivir Drug-Drug Interaction.

Drug interactions are common and can affect patient outcomes. Drugs that undergo emergency approval have less preapproval drug testing to identify potential interactions. Tramadol is an effective pain medication prodrug with a complex mechanism of action that requires extensive metabolism. Remdesivir is an antiviral medication given emergency approval to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infections. Remdesivir is also a nucleotide analogue prodrug that undergoes intracellular metabolic conversions to its active metabolite. We discuss the case of a hospitalized patient in the United States diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia who developed acute pain crisis secondary to a drug-drug interaction between tramadol and remdesivir, and we propose a possible mechanism of interaction.