SynthesisBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2011
Cannabinoids for treatment of chronic non-cancer pain; a systematic review of randomized trials.
Synthesis in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 144 papers, 20 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.
Nabilone and THC/CBD for the Treatment of FBSS Refractory Pain
COPE: Cannabinoids to Obviate Pain Experiment After Knee Replacement
The Kinetics of Endocannabinoids in Patients With Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy by Using a Portable Metered-Dose Cannabis Inhaler
Cannabidiol for Fibromyalgia -The CANNFIB Trial Protocol for a Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Parallel-group, Single-center Trial
Who cites it
144 citing papers in PubMed, 20 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 391 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and Safety of Cannabis Extracts for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Preclinical and Human Studies.Pain research & management · 2026Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of medical cannabis outcomes and associations with cancer.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Clinical Practice Guidelines for Cannabis and Cannabinoid-Based Medicines in the Management of Chronic Pain and Co-Occurring Conditions.Cannabis and cannabinoid research · 2024Pooled it
- Cannabinoids versus placebo for pain: A systematic review with meta-analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- The Effects of Cannabinoids on Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines: A Systematic Review ofCannabis and cannabinoid research · 2021Pooled it
- The Therapeutic Potential and Usage Patterns of Cannabinoids in People with Spinal Cord Injuries: A Systematic Review.Current neuropharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Analgesic Effects of Cannabinoids for Chronic Non-cancer Pain: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis with Meta-Regression.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effects of cannabinoid administration for pain: A meta-analysis and meta-regression.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2019Pooled it
- Cannabis-based medicines for chronic neuropathic pain in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Systematic review of systematic reviews for medical cannabinoids: Pain, nausea and vomiting, spasticity, and harms.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2018Pooled it
- Cannabinoids in Pain Management and Palliative Medicine.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2017Pooled it
- Cannabinoids for fibromyalgia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- [Efficacy, tolerability and safety of cannabinoids for chronic neuropathic pain: A systematic review of randomized controlled studies].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2016Pooled it
- Efficacy, tolerability and safety of cannabinoids in chronic pain associated with rheumatic diseases (fibromyalgia syndrome, back pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis): A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2016Pooled it
- Inhaled Cannabis for Chronic Neuropathic Pain: A Meta-analysis of Individual Patient Data.The journal of pain · 2015Pooled it
- Efficacy and adverse effects of medical marijuana for chronic noncancer pain: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2015Pooled it
- Cannabinoids for the Treatment of Chronic Non-Cancer Pain: An Updated Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2015Pooled it
- Pharmacological management of chronic neuropathic pain: revised consensus statement from the Canadian Pain Society.Pain research & managementGuideline
- 2012 Canadian Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of fibromyalgia syndrome: executive summary.Pain research & managementGuideline
84 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
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Effective therapeutic options for patients living with chronic pain are limited. The pain relieving effect of cannabinoids remains unclear. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining cannabinoids in the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain was conducted according to the PRISMA statement update on the QUORUM guidelines for reporting systematic reviews that evaluate health care interventions. Cannabinoids studied included smoked cannabis, oromucosal extracts of cannabis based medicine, nabilone, dronabinol and a novel THC analogue. Chronic non-cancer pain conditions included neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and mixed chronic pain. Overall the quality of trials was excellent. Fifteen of the eighteen trials that met the inclusion criteria demonstrated a significant analgesic effect of cannabinoid as compared with placebo and several reported significant improvements in sleep. There were no serious adverse effects. Adverse effects most commonly reported were generally well tolerated, mild to moderate in severity and led to withdrawal from the studies in only a few cases. Overall there is evidence that cannabinoids are safe and modestly effective in neuropathic pain with preliminary evidence of efficacy in fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. The context of the need for additional treatments for chronic pain is reviewed. Further large studies of longer duration examining specific cannabinoids in homogeneous populations are required.
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.