Trial reportEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2016
Capsaicin 8% patch versus oral pregabalin in patients with peripheral neuropathic pain.
Trial report in European journal of pain (London, England), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 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
49 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- [Practical guideline on the prevention and management of diabetic foot in China (Ⅰ)].Zhonghua shao shang yu chuang mian xiu fu za zhi · 2025Guideline
- Emerging Therapeutic Modalities and Pharmacotherapies in Neuropathic Pain Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Parallel Randomized Controlled Trials.Pain research & management · 2024Pooled it
- Drug therapy for chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- The efficacy of topical 8% capsaicin patches for the treatment of postsurgical neuropathic pain: a systematic review.Pain managementPooled it
- Is the Capsaicin 179 mg (8% w/w) Cutaneous Patch an Appropriate Treatment Option for Older Patients with Peripheral Neuropathic Pain?Journal of pain research · 2024Trial
- Considerations on the Obstacles That Lead to Slow Recruitment in a Pain Management Clinical Trial: Experiences from the Belgian PELICAN (PrEgabalin Lidocaine Capsaicin Neuropathic Pain) Pragmatic Study.Pain research & management · 2023Trial
- Superiority of capsaicin 8% patch versus oral pregabalin on dynamic mechanical allodynia in patients with peripheral neuropathic pain.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2018Trial
- Effectiveness of the capsaicin 8% patch in the management of peripheral neuropathic pain in European clinical practice: the ASCEND study.BMC neurology · 2017Trial
- Capsaicin 8% patch repeat treatment plus standard of care (SOC) versus SOC alone in painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a randomised, 52-week, open-label, safety study.BMC neurology · 2016Trial
- Article
- Topical analgesics for neuropathic pain: an evidence-informed guide for the practicing clinician.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2026Review
- Response to High-Dose Topical Capsaicin in Neuropathic Pain: Absence of Deep Pain as a Predictor of Analgesic Effect.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Cooling the burn: EMLA alone vs. paravertebral block plus EMLA for improving tolerability of 8% capsaicin patch application in thoracic postherpetic neuralgia-a retrospective cohort study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Capsaicin in the Management of Peripheral Neuropathy: A Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- Cost-Effectiveness of a High-Concentration (179 mg) Capsaicin Patch for the Treatment of Patients with Peripheral Neuropathic Pain in Scotland.Pain and therapy · 2025Article
- Article
- Review
- Article
- Practical guidelines for the prevention and management of diabetic foot disease in China.Burns & trauma · 2025Article
- Validation of a holistic composite outcome measure for the evaluation of chronic pain interventions.Pain reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 8 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClinical trials have not yet compared the efficacy of capsaicin 8% patch with current standard therapy in peripheral neuropathic pain (PNP).
objectivesHead-to-head efficacy and safety trial comparing the capsaicin patch with pregabalin in PNP.
methodsOpen-label, randomized, multicentre, non-inferiority trial. Patients with PNP, aged 18-80 years, were randomly assigned to either the capsaicin 8% patch (n = 282) or an optimised dose of oral pregabalin (n = 277), and assessed for a ≥30% mean decrease in Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) score from baseline to Week 8. Secondary endpoints included optimal therapeutic effect (OTE), time-to-onset of pain relief and treatment satisfaction.
resultsThe capsaicin 8% patch was non-inferior to pregabalin in achievement of a ≥30% mean decrease in NPRS score from baseline to Week 8 (55.7% vs. 54.5%, respectively; Odds ratio: 1.03 [95% CI: 0.72, 1.50]). The proportion of patients achieving OTE at Week 8 was 52.1% for the capsaicin 8% patch versus 44.8% for pregabalin (difference: 7.3%; 95% CI: -0.9%, 15.6%). The median time-to-onset of pain relief was significantly shorter for capsaicin 8% patch versus pregabalin (7.5 vs. 36.0 days; Hazard ratio: 1.68 [95% CI: 1.35, 2.08]; p < 0.0001). Treatment satisfaction was also significantly greater with the capsaicin 8% patch versus pregabalin. TEAEs were mild-to-moderate in severity, and resulted in treatment discontinuation only with pregabalin (n = 24). Systemic adverse drug reactions ranged from 0 to 1.1% with capsaicin 8% patch and 2.5 to 18.4% with pregabalin.
conclusionsThe capsaicin 8% patch provided non-inferior pain relief to an optimized dose of pregabalin in PNP, with a faster onset of action, fewer systemic side effects and greater treatment satisfaction.
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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.