Monoterpenes as Perspective to Chronic Pain Management: A Systematic Review

Background: Individuals with chronic diseases have persistent pain as the main symptom, which can often reduce their life quality and functional capacity. The suffering of patients results from the interaction of aversive perception of pain with physical disability, social and family isolation, financial worries and fear of mutilation and death. As an individual and subjective phenomenon that involves many complex aspects, chronic pain should be evaluated and treated in its various components. Several drugs are currently used, but besides the high cost, they have side effects that are harmful to patients. Therefore, there is the need to search for new options for pain relief. Natural products as monoterpenes have been the target of many researchers. Objective: This systematic review aimed to briefly summarize the knowledge of the analgesic potential of monoterpenes facing chronic pain. Results: After a search in PubMed, Lilacs, Scopus and Cochrane, 27 articles were selected, which described the analgesic potential of 16 monoterpenes for relief of chronic pain. Conclusion: After analyzing the data, it can be suggested that these compounds are strong candidates for the treatment of painful states.