Opioid Drugs May Not Help With Long-Term Low Back Pain

Opioid painkillers are frequently prescribed to address the challenges of chronic low back pain. Nevertheless, a comprehensive analysis encompassing 20 trials, disclosed online on May 23, 2016, by JAMA Internal Medicine, has brought to light that these medications deliver only modest and short-term relief.

Within this scrutiny, 13 placebo-controlled trials were conducted, involving 3,419 individuals relying on opioids such as oxycodone (OxyContin) and tramadol (Ultram) for the management of low back pain. The participants were tasked with assessing their pain levels using a questionnaire that employed a scale ranging from zero to 100. In this context, a difference of 10 points or less on the scale was deemed minimal, while a disparity of 20 points or more was considered indicative of a meaningful effect.

Among the 20 trials scrutinized, 17 involved the comparison of opioids with a placebo, while three compared opioids with each other. The research revealed that, in the placebo trials, opioids exhibited a mean pain relief score of 10.1 for the short term (less than three months) and 8.1 for the intermediate term (three months to a year).

Lead researcher Dr. Christina Abdel Shaheed from Western Sydney University in Australia suggested, “If opioids are used for low back pain management, it appears they may need to be combined with nondrug therapies like physical therapy or a different drug.”

It’s essential to highlight that these findings are not applicable to individuals with identified causes of back pain, such as inflammatory conditions, infections, cancer, or trauma. Moreover, nearly half of the individuals who used opioids reported experiencing side effects, including nausea, constipation, and headaches.