Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26604814›Full record

ReviewJournal of pain research2015

Palmitoylethanolamide, a neutraceutical, in nerve compression syndromes: efficacy and safety in sciatic pain and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Jan M Keppel Hesselink, David J Kopsky

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of pain research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06694337 (Study to Investigate the Potential Pharmacological Effect of Oral Palmitoylethanolamide), which is not on this map. Cited by 23 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed
3.7field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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.

NCT06694337 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Study to Investigate the Potential Pharmacological Effect of Oral Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) Therapy in the Management of Low Back Pain (Neuropathic Pain): A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Parallel-group Clinical Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorLiaquat University of Medical & Health SciencesRan2025 to 2025Enrolled120ConditionsLow Back PainArms300 mg Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) Phytosome®, 450 mg Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) Phytosome®, Control group
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
  3. Use of palmitoylethanolamide in carpal tunnel syndrome: a prospective randomized study.Journal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology · 2017
    Trial
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Palmitoylethanolamide: A Natural Compound for Health Management.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
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  19. Article
  20. Review
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

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jan M Keppel HesselinkInstitute for Neuropathic Pain, Bosch en Duin, the Netherlands.
David J KopskyInstitute for Neuropathic Pain, Bosch en Duin, the Netherlands.
Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is an endogenous lipid modulator in animals and humans, and has been evaluated since the 1970s as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic drug in more than 30 clinical trials, in a total of ~6,000 patients. PEA is currently available worldwide as a nutraceutical in different formulations, with and without excipients. Here we describe the results of all clinical trials evaluating PEA's efficacy and safety in nerve compression syndromes: sciatic pain and pain due to carpal tunnel syndrome, and review preclinical evidence in nerve impingement models. Both the pharmacological studies as well as the clinical trials supported PEA's action as an analgesic compound. In total, eight clinical trials have been published in such entrapment syndromes, and 1,366 patients have been included in these trials. PEA proved to be effective and safe in nerve compression syndromes. In one pivotal, double blind, placebo controlled trial in 636 sciatic pain patients, the number needed to treat to reach 50% pain reduction compared to baseline was 1.5 after 3 weeks of treatment. Furthermore, no drug interactions or troublesome side effects have been described so far. Physicians are not always aware of PEA as a relevant and safe alternative to opioids and co-analgesics in the treatment of neuropathic pain. Especially since the often prescribed co-analgesic pregabaline has been proven to be ineffective in sciatic pain in a double blind enrichment trial, PEA should be considered as a new and safe treatment option for nerve compression syndromes.

Indexed as

analgesicsanti-inflammatory agentsnerve compressionpalmidrolpalmitoylethanolamidePPAR alphasciatic

Identifiers

PMID26604814
PMCPMC4631430
OpenAlexW1843457357

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

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.