A quantitative analytical investigation on the oxycodone side effects listed in recent clinical trials

Background: Oxycodone is a semi-synthetic narcotic analgesic medication with numerous side effects. Patients who use oxycodone may have one or more side effects depending on their clinical status and/or other factors. Our aim was to analyze clinical trials for any potential pattern related to the side effects of oxycodone. Methods: We searched the ClinicalTrials.gov database for clinical studies conducted around the world regarding oxycodone. A number of general data analytic and text manipulation techniques were used in the Python programming language. Results: We analyzed 842 clinical trials involving oxycodone. Our results suggest that the researchers focused on oxycodone’s typical side effects (e.g. vomiting), as opposed to the less evident and/or long-term side effects e.g. depression, confusion and constipation. Conclusions: The adverse effects of oxycodone most commonly reported in the clinical trials are nausea, vomiting and depression. Despite the clinical use of oxycodone in all the age groups (including infants), very few of the publicly-available clinical trials included participants < 18 years of age.