ReviewCureus2021
Duloxetine for the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials.
Review in Cureus, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06232473 (Efficacy of Patient Education and Duloxetine, Alone or in Combination, for Patients With Multisystem Functional Somatic Disorder), which is not on this map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 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.
Efficacy of Patient Education and Duloxetine, Alone or in Combination, for Patients With Multisystem Functional Somatic Disorder
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of antidepressants in the treatment of chronic nonspecific low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Pain management · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of duloxetine in chronic musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic review of guideline-recommended medications prescribed for treatment of low back pain.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2022Pooled it
- Common Mechanisms in Migraine, Migraine-Related Neck Pain, and Low Back Pain: Implications for Treatment.Pain and therapy · 2026Review
- Comorbidity Mechanism and Management of Chronic Low Back Pain and Major Depressive Disorder: From Neural Circuit Remodeling to Precision Medicine.Brain and behavior · 2026Review
- Comparative Effectiveness of Pregabalin With Duloxetine Versus Pregabalin With Amitriptyline in Chronic Low Back Pain With Radiculopathy: A Prospective Comparative Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Comparative effectiveness of amitriptylineWorld journal of methodology · 2026Article
- Advancing chronic low back pain management: Insights from amitriptyline and duloxetine comparison.World journal of methodology · 2026Article
- [Evidence-based interventions to treat chronic low back pain: treatment selection for a personalized medicine approach : German version].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2025Article
- The design and rationale of the Biomarkers for Evaluating Spine Treatments trial: a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Navigating the Efficacy and Safety Landscape of Duloxetine in Osteoarthritis Management: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Indian journal of orthopaedics · 2025Review
- Pharmaceutical considerations in treating neuropathic pain in athletes.International orthopaedics · 2025Review
- Duloxetine for individuals with chronic back pain: A systematic review and meta‑analysis of randomized controlled trials.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2024Article
- Digital Therapeutics (DTx) Expand Multimodal Treatment Options for Chronic Low Back Pain: The Nexus of Precision Medicine, Patient Education, and Public Health.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Diagnosis and Management of Neuropathic Pain in Spine Diseases.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- #Scoliosis: an analysis of patient perception of scoliosis on TikTok.Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center) · 2023Article
- Review: Discogenic Back Pain: Update on Treatment.Orthopedic reviews · 2023Article
- 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
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This systematic review determines the efficacy and safety of duloxetine for chronic low back pain (CLBP). We queried the PubMed, SCOPUS, and Ovid MEDLINE databases. All level I and II randomized controlled studies published in the English language investigating the efficacy of duloxetine for chronic low back pain were included. Five studies (832 duloxetine-treated patients, 667 placebo-treated patients, and 41 duloxetine and placebo crossover analysis patients) were analyzed. One study was level I evidence and four studies were level II evidence. All five studies reported statistically significant improvements in more than one back-pain-specific clinical outcome score with duloxetine versus placebo. Four studies found that duloxetine 60 mg daily leads to one or more statistically significant improvements versus placebo in Brief Pain Inventory Severity (BPI-S) scores. All five studies found no significant difference in serious adverse events (AEs) between the duloxetine and placebo groups. One study found a higher rate of total AEs among the duloxetine 120 mg group versus the placebo group; however, the same study did not find a significant difference in total AEs among duloxetine 20 mg and 60 mg groups versus placebo. Duloxetine is a safe and effective first-line option for the treatment of CLBP. Current studies demonstrate that 60 mg taken once daily has the highest efficacy for reducing pain and disability while minimizing minor adverse effects. Further randomized controlled trials with long-term follow-up are necessary to determine its long-term effects.
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.