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Benefits and harms of drugs for “neuropathic” pain Therapeutics Initiative (University of British Columbia)

Description

Therapeutics Letter 96 reviews the harms and benefits of drugs for neuropathic pain. Conclusions: The evidence base for drug treatment of neuropathic pain is weak, due to the small magnitude of clinically meaningful effects and the high risk of bias in the RCTs. Probably less than 1 in 10 patients achieve a meaningful reduction in pain. Most patients experience some adverse side effects like somnolence, dizziness, nausea, dry mouth and constipation. To identify patients who respond, a therapeutic trial with early assessment is essential. Reassessment of drug utility is needed to detect people with spontaneous remission or placebo response. Higher doses are unlikely to achieve greater pain reduction, but are more likely to cause harm.

Item Metadata

Title
Benefits and harms of drugs for “neuropathic” pain
Alternate Title
Therapeutics Letter 96
Creator
Therapeutics Initiative (University of British Columbia)
Date Issued
2015-10
Description
Therapeutics Letter 96 reviews the harms and benefits of drugs for neuropathic pain. Conclusions: The evidence base for drug treatment of neuropathic pain is weak, due to the small magnitude of clinically meaningful effects and the high risk of bias in the RCTs. Probably less than 1 in 10 patients achieve a meaningful reduction in pain. Most patients experience some adverse side effects like somnolence, dizziness, nausea, dry mouth and constipation. To identify patients who respond, a therapeutic trial with early assessment is essential. Reassessment of drug utility is needed to detect people with spontaneous remission or placebo response. Higher doses are unlikely to achieve greater pain reduction, but are more likely to cause harm.
Subject
Amitriptyline; Chronic Pain; Desipramine; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; Duloxetine; Gabapentin; Imipramine; Neuralgia; Nortriptyline; Pregabalin; Venlafaxine
Genre
Other
Type
Text
Language
eng
Notes
The UBC TI is funded by the BC Ministry of Health to provide evidence-based information about drug therapy. We neither formulate nor adjudicate provincial drug policies.
Date Available
2023-06-20
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0433675
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85085
Affiliation
Medicine, Faculty of; Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Department of
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International