ReviewNature reviews. Rheumatology2010
Adverse effects of chronic opioid therapy for chronic musculoskeletal pain.
Review in Nature reviews. Rheumatology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
73 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 181 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of cupping therapy on chronic musculoskeletal pain and collateral problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of aquatic exercise in chronic musculoskeletal disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of intravenous ketamine for postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A meta-analysis.Medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Trial
- Changes in Pain Sensitivity and Pain Modulation During Oral Opioid Treatment: The Impact of Negative Affect.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Association of hypertension and diabetes with opioid initiation and progression to long-term use after osteoarthritis diagnosis: A population-based register cohort study in Sweden.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Article
- Randomized-controlled trial of skills-based vr vs. distraction vr vs. sham VR for chronic low back pain.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- A bioelectromagnetic hypothesis of chronic primary pain: from thalamocortical dysrhythmia to the consciousness-brain interface.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Biological Markers of Brain Network Connectivity and Pain Sensitivity Distinguish Low Coping from High Coping Veterans with Persistent Post-Traumatic Headache.Journal of neurotrauma · 2025Observational
- Review
- Opioid Misuse by Adults with Chronic Pain: The Impact of Illness and Medication Beliefs.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Global research trends in aquatic exercise therapy for musculoskeletal disorders: a bibliometric analysis.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2025Article
- Validation of the Korean version of the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Biological Mechanisms and Clinical Challenges of Platelet-Rich Plasma in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: From Standardized Preparation to Multi-Omics-Guided Precision Therapy.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Mobile Health App and Web Platform (eDOL) for Medical Follow-Up of Patients With Chronic Pain: Cohort Study Involving the French eDOL National Cohort After 1 Year.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Article
- Perceived benefits and limitations of a psychoeducation program for patients with fibromyalgia: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Cebranopadol for the Treatment of Chronic Pain.Current pain and headache reports · 2023Review
- The Biology of Stress Intolerance in Patients with Chronic Pain-State of the Art and Future Directions.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Precision, integrative medicine for pain management in sickle cell disease.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Review
13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The use of opioids for the treatment of chronic pain has increased dramatically over the past decade. Whether these drugs provide considerable benefits in terms of pain reduction and improved function to balance the risks associated with their use, however, is unclear. Of particular importance to clinicians treating chronic musculoskeletal pain is opioid-induced hyperalgesia, the activation of pronociceptive pathways by exogenous opioids that results in central sensitization to pain. This phenomenon results in an increase in pain sensitivity and can potentially exacerbate pre-existing pain. Opioids also have powerful positive effects on the reward and reinforcing circuits of the brain that might lead to continued drug use, even if there is no abuse or misuse. The societal risk of increased opioid prescription is associated with increased nonmedical use, serious adverse events and death. Patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain should avoid the long-term use of opioids unless the benefits are determined to outweigh risks, in which case, the use of chronic opioids should be regularly re-evaluated.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.