Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22059206›Full record

ReviewPain research & management

A comparison between enriched and nonenriched enrollment randomized withdrawal trials of opioids for chronic noncancer pain.

Andrea Furlan, Luis E Chaparro, Emma Irvin, Angela Mailis-Gagnon

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Pain research & management. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
54citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
7.5field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

54 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 123 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Impact of treatment duration on the effectiveness of opioid analgesia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026
    Pooled it
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  5. CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain - United States, 2022.MMWR. Recommendations and reports : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Recommendations and reports · 2022
    Guideline
  6. Pooled it
  7. Guideline
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  11. Pharmacologic interventions for treating phantom limb pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016
    Pooled it
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  13. Opioids compared to placebo or other treatments for chronic low-back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013
    Pooled it
  14. Guideline
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Andrea FurlanDepartment of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. afurlan@iwh.on.ca
Luis E Chaparro
Emma Irvin
Angela Mailis-Gagnon
University of Toronto · CAInstitute for Work & Health · CAToronto Western Hospital · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAn enriched enrollment randomized withdrawal (EERW) design excludes potential participants who are nonresponders or who cannot tolerate the experimental drug before random assignment. It is unclear whether EERW design has an influence on the efficacy and safety of opioids for chronic noncancer pain (CNCP).

objectivesThe primary objective was to compare the results from EERW and non-EERW trials of opioids for CNCP. Secondary objectives were to compare weak versus strong opioids, subgroups of patients with different types of pain, and the efficacy of opiods compared with placebo versus other drugs.

methodsMEDLINE, EMBASE and CENTRAL were searched up to July 2009, for randomized controlled trials of any opioid for CNCP. Metaanalyses and meta-regressions were conducted to compare the results. Treatment efficacy was assessed by effect sizes (small, medium and large) and the incidence of adverse effects was assessed by a clinically relevant mean difference of 10% or greater.

resultsSixty-two randomized trials were included. In 61 trials, the duration was less than 16 weeks. There was no difference in efficacy between EERW and non-EERW trials for both pain (P=0.6) and function (P=0.3). However, EERW trials failed to detect a clinically relevant difference for nausea, vomiting, somnolence, dizziness and dry skin⁄itching compared with non-EERW. Opioids were more effective than placebo in patients with nociceptive pain (effect size=0.60, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.72) and neuropathic pain (effect size=0.56, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.73).

conclusionEERW trial designs appear not to bias the results of efficacy, but they underestimate the adverse effects. The present updated meta- analysis shows that weak and strong opioids are effective for CNCP of both nociceptive and neuropathic origin.

Indexed as

Randomized Controlled Trials as TopicAnalgesics, OpioidChronic PainHumansSubstance Withdrawal SyndromeAnalgesics, Opioid

Identifiers

PMID22059206
PMCPMC3206784
OpenAlexW1961376272

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.