A comprehensive review of clinical trials on the efficacy and safety of drugs for the treatment of low back pain

A systematic review involving 50 randomized controlled trials (4,863 patients) published since 1980 was undertaken with the objective of assessing efficacy and safety of low back pain (LBP) medications. The methodological quality of each trial was evaluated based on a standardized system. Quality sc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2004-07, Vol.28 (1), p.72-95
Main Authors: Schnitzer, Thomas J, Ferraro, Aimee, Hunsche, Elke, Kong, Sheldon X
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
analgesics
Analgesics - therapeutic use
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - therapeutic use
antidepressants
Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use
Biological and medical sciences
Clinical Trials as Topic
efficacy
Humans
low back pain
Low Back Pain - drug therapy
Medical sciences
muscle relaxants
Muscle Relaxants, Central - therapeutic use
NSAIDs
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
safety
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A systematic review involving 50 randomized controlled trials (4,863 patients) published since 1980 was undertaken with the objective of assessing efficacy and safety of low back pain (LBP) medications. The methodological quality of each trial was evaluated based on a standardized system. Quality scores ranged from 26 to 82 points on a 100-point scale (from 0 to 100), indicating an overall moderate quality of the trials reviewed. Limited evidence was found regarding the effectiveness of drug treatments for LBP and current studies focused on short-term usage of the therapies. Available evidence supported the effectiveness of non-selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in acute and chronic LBP, of muscle relaxants in acute LBP, and of antidepressants in chronic LBP; safety results were heterogeneous. More rigorously designed trials should be implemented to establish comparative efficacy and safety of drugs used to treat chronic and acute LBP.
ISSN:0885-3924
1873-6513
DOI:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2003.10.015