Trial reportEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2015
Pharmacological management of chronic low back pain in older patients: a randomized controlled trial of the effect of pregabalin and opioid administration.
Trial report in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 4 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Predictors of success of pharmacological management in patients with chronic lower back pain: systematic review.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapy on pain intensity and disability in older people with chronic nonspecific low back pain: a systematic review with meta-analysis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2023Pooled it
- Pregabalin and gabapentin for chronic low back pain without radiculopathy: a systematic review.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2023Pooled it
- Benefits and safety of gabapentinoids in chronic low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.PLoS medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Targeted vibratory therapy as a treatment for proprioceptive dysfunction: Clinical trial in older patients with chronic low back pain.PloS one · 2024Trial
- Efficacy and safety of pregabalin in the management of low back pain: a comprehensive meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Acute back pain: The role of medication, physical medicine and rehabilitation: WFNS spine committee recommendations.World neurosurgery: X · 2024Review
- Between guidelines and clinical trials: evidence-based advice on the pharmacological management of non-specific chronic low back pain.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Review
- Pharmacotherapy for Spine-Related Pain in Older Adults.Drugs & aging · 2022Review
- Opioid prescribing and risk of drug-opioid interactions in older discharged patients with polypharmacy in Australia.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2021Article
- Alternatives to Opioids in the Pharmacologic Management of Chronic Pain Syndromes: A Narrative Review of Randomized, Controlled, and Blinded Clinical Trials.Anesthesia and analgesia · 2017Review
- Establishment and Characterization of a Novel Rat Model of Mechanical Low Back Pain Using Behavioral, Pharmacologic and Histologic Methods.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2017Article
- Low Back Pain in Patients with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis-Hemodynamic and electrophysiological study of the lumbar multifidus muscles.Spine surgery and related research · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePregabalin and opioids are used to treat chronic low back pain (LBP). No previous investigations have compared the efficacy of pregabalin and that of opioids for chronic LBP.
methodsWe performed a randomized controlled trial of pregabalin and opioids in 65 consecutive patients aged 65 years or older who had chronic LBP. Each agent was administered randomly in different phases. Pain and activities of daily living (ADL) were evaluated after 4 weeks of treatment using the visual analog scale, Japanese Orthopaedic Association score, Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire, EuroQol quality-of-life scale, and geriatric depression scale. Neuropathic pain was evaluated using a neuropathic pain screening questionnaire.
resultsThe effectiveness rate was 73.3% for pregabalin and 83.3% for opioid, showing no significant difference. The mean durations until the onset of effect were 10.2 and 6.1 days, respectively, albeit without significant difference. Pregabalin was effective for LBP with neuropathic pain, whereas opioids were effective for non-neuropathic pain. The improvement of ADL was greater with opioids than with pregabalin. Pregabalin was effective for LBP in patients with lower limb symptoms, whereas opioids were effective for those without lower limb symptoms.
conclusionsAside from screening tests, consideration of neuropathic pain and lower extremity symptoms may be an integral component in the selection of the appropriate medication for chronic LBP. Moreover, the therapeutic objectives, including pain relief and/or improvement of ADL, should be specified.
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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.