Lipidic and polymeric colloidal systems as drug nanocarriers for post-operative pain.
Several pre-, intra- and postoperative interventions, as well as different treatment strategies, are available and are able to reduce and manage postoperative pain. In this context, the development of drug carriers systems represent an important challenge, considering aspects such their composition , short and long term stability, therapeutic efficacy and biocompatibility. An innovative approach refers to the development of hybrid systems for drug controlled release, which in combination present different levels of structural organization and biopharmaceutical properties than isolated carriers, being used as strategies to overcome limitations in relation to physico-chemical, pharmacokinetic , pharmacodynamic or toxicological properties. The present proposal is based on the need to provide new pharmacological alternatives for the treatment of postoperative pain through the development of sustained release systems for ibuprofen, an NSAID widely used in clinical medicine. However, as a limiting factor, it has a short half-life and / or duration of action. Therefore, in order to prolong both the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of ibuprofen, new carrier systems have been proposed. In this context, the development of solid lipid nanoparticles dispersed in hydrogels based on poloxamers (407 and 338) would allow the prolonged action, prolonging the effectiveness in pain management in the post-surgical period and, possibly, preventing recurrence of hospitalization for chronic pain after -operative. This proposal aims at the development (preparation and characterization), the evaluation of the in vitro release profiles of nanostructured hybrid systems containing ibuprofen or ropivacaine incorporated in solid lipid nanoparticles isolated or dispersed in thermosensitive hydrogels.