SynthesisThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews2015
Milnacipran for neuropathic pain in adults.
Synthesis in The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antidepressants for pain management in adults with chronic pain: a network meta-analysis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2024Pooled it
- Interventions for treating pain and disability in adults with complex regional pain syndrome- an overview of systematic reviews.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Drug therapy for chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Milnacipran for pain in fibromyalgia in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors in Fibromyalgia Management: An Integrative Literature Review of Clinical Evidence.Clinics and practice · 2026Review
- Voluntary running improves synaptic degeneration of the anterior cingulate cortex in knee osteoarthritis.Molecular brain · 2025Article
- Opiorphin and neuropathic pain: a promising treatment approach?Inflammopharmacology · 2025Review
- Therapeutic Approach for Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Systematic Review.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Review
- Antidepressants for pain management in adults with chronic pain: a network meta-analysis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Review
- Fibromyalgia interventions, obstacles and prospects: narrative review.Acta myologica : myopathies and cardiomyopathies : official journal of the Mediterranean Society of Myology · 2023Review
- Glutamatergic systems in neuropathic pain and emerging non-opioid therapies.Pharmacological research · 2022Review
- New Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors and Their Anesthetic and Analgesic Considerations.Neurology international · 2021Review
- "I'll Be Back": The Resurrection of Dezocine.ACS medicinal chemistry letters · 2021Article
- Guideline "diagnosis and non interventional therapy of neuropathic pain" of the German Society of Neurology (deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurologie).Neurological research and practice · 2020Article
- Off-label Antidepressant Use for Treatment and Management of Chronic Pain: Evolving Understanding and Comprehensive Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2019Review
- Therapeutic effects of diclofenac, pregabalin, and duloxetine on disuse-induced chronic musculoskeletal pain in rats.Scientific reports · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMilnacipran is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) that is sometimes used to treat chronic neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. This is an update of an earlier review of milnacipran for neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia in adults originally published in The Cochrane Library Issue 3, 2012. We split that review so that this one looked only at neuropathic pain, and a separate review looks at fibromyalgia.
objectivesTo assess the analgesic efficacy and associated adverse events of milnacipran for chronic neuropathic pain in adults. SEARCH
methodsWe searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, and EMBASE to 23 February 2015, together with reference lists of retrieved papers and reviews. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised, double-blind studies of eight weeks' duration or longer, comparing milnacipran with placebo or another active treatment in chronic neuropathic pain. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently searched for studies, extracted efficacy and adverse event data, and examined issues of study quality. We did not carry out any analysis. MAIN
resultsWe included a single study of 40 participants with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component. It found no difference in pain scores between milnacipran 100 mg to 200 mg daily or placebo after six weeks (very low quality evidence). Adverse event rates were similar between treatments, with too few data to draw conclusions (very low quality evidence). AUTHORS'
conclusionsThere was no evidence to support the use of milnacipran to treat neuropathic pain conditions.
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.