A narcotic analgesic used to treat or prevent moderate to severe pain.
An opioid pain reliever that is sometimes given to patients with shingles or post-herpetic neuralgia. In the brand Percodan, oxycodone is mixed with aspirin. In the brand Percocet, it is mixed with acetaminophen. It is also available in a long-acting formulation called Oxycontin.
Oxycodone is a potent and potentially addictive opioid analgesic medication synthesized from thebaine. Its name is derived from codeine - the chemical structures are very similar, differing only in that the hydrogen on the codeine is oxidised to a hydroxyl group, hence 'oxy' and the hydroxyl group from the codeine becomes a ketone group, hence 'oxycodone.'
