SynthesisDrug and alcohol dependence2021
Opioid-induced analgesia among persons with opioid use disorder receiving methadone or buprenorphine: A systematic review of experimental pain studies.
Synthesis in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brief report: The influence of childhood trauma on the effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in persons with opioid use disorder.The American journal on addictions · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol modulates pain sensitivity among persons receiving opioid agonist therapy for opioid use disorder: A within-subject, randomized, placebo-controlled laboratory study.Addiction biology · 2023Trial
- Associations Between Pain Severity and Opioid Agonist Treatment Among People With Drug Injection Experience in Australia.Drug and alcohol review · 2026Article
- Exploring the effects of cannabidiol on pain sensitivity using quantitative sensory testing among individuals receiving methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder: an open-label, proof-of-concept study.Addictive behaviors reports · 2026Article
- Factors associated with changes in opioid analgesic prescribing after opioid agonist treatment initiation: A nationwide registry cohort study.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- "They still deserve for their pain to be controlled": healthcare providers' and community-level stakeholders' perceptions of pain management among cancer survivors with an opioid use disorder.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Clinical and mental health characteristics among patients receiving medications for opioid use disorder treatment versus patients receiving low- and high-dose opioids when referred for pain management.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2025Article
- From taboo to treatment: The emergence of psychedelics in the management of pain and opioid use disorder.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2024Review
- Long-Term Exposure to Morphine Induces Cross-Tolerance to Acute Antinociceptive Effect of Remifentanil on Somatic and Visceral Stimuli in Rats.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Developing non-opioid therapeutics to alleviate pain among persons with opioid use disorder: a review of the human evidence.International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England)Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTreating acute pain among persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) on opioid agonist therapy (OAT) is complex, and the therapeutic benefits of opioids remain unclear when weighted against their abuse potential and respiratory depressant effects.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review of experimental pain studies examining opioid-induced analgesia among persons with OUD on OAT. We searched multiple databases from inception to July 30, 2021. Study quality was assessed by previously established validity measures.
resultsNine studies were identified, with a total of 225 participants, of whom 63% were male, and 37% were female. Six studies included methadone-maintained persons with OUD; four studies included buprenorphine-maintained persons with OUD; and three studies included healthy persons as comparison groups. Either additional doses of OAT or other opioids - morphine, oxycodone, hydromorphone, or remifentanil - were administered. In seven studies, persons with OUD on OAT did not experience analgesia, despite receiving opioid doses up to 20 times greater than those clinically used to treat severe pain among the opioid naïve. Conversely, in two studies, high-potency opioids did produce analgesia, albeit with greater abuse potential. Notably, persons with OUD on OAT remained vulnerable to respiratory depression.
conclusionsAlthough persons with OUD on OAT can derive analgesic effects from opioids, high-potency compounds may be required to achieve clinically significant pain relief. Further, persons with OUD on OAT may remain vulnerable to opioid-induced abuse potential and respiratory depression. Together, these finding have clinical, methodological, and mechanistic implications for the treatment of acute pain in the context of OAT.
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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.