ReviewAdvances in therapy2020
Limited Utility for Benzodiazepines in Chronic Pain Management: A Narrative Review.
Review in Advances in therapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pharmacological Influences on the R2 Blink Reflex Response in Healthy Participants: A Systematic Review.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Challenges of Diagnosis and Management of Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Literature Review.Current aging science · 2025Review
- Initial validation of the expectancies for Benzodiazepine Analgesia Scale.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Development of a pain self-management intervention framework for people with spinal cord injury.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2023Article
- Are psychedelic medicines the reset for chronic pain? Preliminary findings and research needs.Neuropharmacology · 2023Review
- Trichloroethanol, an active metabolite of chloral hydrate, modulates tetrodotoxin-resistant NaBMC anesthesiology · 2023Article
- High use of pain, depression, and anxiety drugs in hemophilia: more than 3000 people with hemophilia in an 11-year Nordic registry study.Research and practice in thrombosis and haemostasis · 2023Article
- Benzodiazepine Use and Dependence in Relation to Chronic Pain Intensity and Pain Catastrophizing.The journal of pain · 2023Article
- Sleep disorders in chronic pain and its neurochemical mechanisms: a narrative review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Review
- Perceived Efficacy, Reduced Prescription Drug Use, and Minimal Side Effects of Cannabis in Patients with Chronic Orthopedic Pain.Cannabis and cannabinoid research · 2022Observational
- Article
- GABAkines - Advances in the discovery, development, and commercialization of positive allosteric modulators of GABAPharmacology & therapeutics · 2022Review
- Frailty Risks of Prescription Analgesics and Sedatives across Frailty Models: the Health and Retirement Study.Drugs & aging · 2022Article
- Benzodiazepines in sport, an underestimated problem: Recommendations for sports medicine physicians' practice.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionControversy and uncertainty exist about the use of benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRAs) in pain management. This article curates available research to determine the appropriate role of BZRAs in the course of pain management, and how prescribers might address these challenges.
methodsA narrative review was performed to determine the appropriate role of BZRAs in pain management and to develop practice recommendations. Publications were identified by a search of PubMed, references of retrieved reports, guidelines, and the author's personal files.
resultsBZRAs were found to have analgesic benefit for two pain conditions: burning mouth syndrome and stiff person syndrome. Absence of research, heterogeneity of trials, and small sample sizes precluded drawing conclusions about efficacy of BZRAs for the other 109 pain conditions explored. Data supports the use of BZRAs to treat co-occurring insomnia and anxiety disorders but only when alternatives are inadequate and only for short periods of time (2-4 weeks). The utility of BZRAs is limited by loss of efficacy that may be seen with continued use and adverse reactions including physiologic dependence which develops in 20-100% of those who take these agents for more than a month.
conclusionsBZRAs are often used inappropriately in pain management. Their initiation and duration of use should be limited to a narrow range of conditions. When prescribed for 4 weeks or more, patients should be encouraged to discontinue them through a supported, slow tapering process that may take 12-18 months or longer.
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.