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Pain and Chemical Dependency News
An estimated 2 million persons in the U.S. have neuropathic pain that is often
resistant to therapy. The use of opioids for neuropathic pain remains controversial.
The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of opioid agonists
for the treatment of neuropathic pain based on published randomized controlled
trials (RCTs). The investigators earched MEDLINE (1966 to December 2004) and
the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (fourth quarter, 2004) for
articles in any language, along with reference lists of reviews and retrieved
articles. They included trials in which opioid agonists were given to treat
central or peripheral neuropathic pain of any etiology, that assessed pain using
validated instruments and that reported adverse events. Data extracted included
demographic variables, diagnoses, interventions, efficacy, and adverse effects.
CONCLUSIONS: Short-term studies provide only equivocal evidence regarding the
efficacy of opioids in reducing the intensity of neuropathic pain. Intermediate-term
studies demonstrate significant efficacy of opioids over placebo for neuropathic
pain, which is likely to be clinically important. Reported adverse events of
opioids are common but not life-threatening. Further RCTs are needed to establish
their long-term efficacy, safety, and effects on quality of life. Eisenberg
E, McNicol ED, Carr DB. JAMA. 2005 Jun 22;293(24):3043-52.
Read more: PMID 15972567
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15972567&query_hl=2
Credit: PubMed, developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information
(NCBI) at the
National Library of Medicine (NLM).
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