ReviewJournal of dental anesthesia and pain medicine2021
Efficacy of cannabis-based medications compared to placebo for the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain: a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Review in Journal of dental anesthesia and pain medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sleep quality assessment in hospitalized postoperative surgical patients: a COSMIN-based systematic review.Frontiers in sleep · 2025Pooled it
- The effects of standardized cannabis products in healthy volunteers and patients: a systematic literature review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Balancing risks and benefits of cannabis use: umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and observational studies.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Pooled it
- Does Cannabis-based Medicine Improve Pain and Sleep Quality in Patients With Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injuries? A Triple-blind, Crossover, Randomized Controlled Trial.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Trial
- Effects of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol on cognitive outcomes following acute use of cannabis for chronic pain.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Cannabinoids in Chronic Pain: Clinical Outcomes, Adverse Effects and Legal Challenges.Neurology international · 2025Review
- Review
- Evidence synthesis of medical cannabis research: current challenges and opportunities.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Review
- An Overview of the Potential for Pharmacokinetic Interactions Between Drugs and Cannabis Products in Humans.Pharmaceutics · 2025Review
- Association of Serum Endocannabinoid Levels with Pancreatitis and Pancreatitis-Related Pain.Cannabis and cannabinoid research · 2025Article
- Natural Products Derived from Cannabis sativa for Pain Management.Handbook of experimental pharmacology · 2025Review
- Exploring Natural Analgesics for Chronic Pain Management: Cannabinoids and other Phytoconstituents.Current medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- The Development of Cannabinoids as Therapeutic Agents in the United States.Pharmacological reviews · 2024Review
- A new academic leap in the fields of anesthesia and pain management in dentistry.Journal of dental anesthesia and pain medicine · 2024Article
- Recent Advances in Management of Neuropathic, Nociceptive, and Chronic Pain: A Narrative Review with Focus on Nanomedicine, Gene Therapy, Stem Cell Therapy, and Newer Therapeutic Options.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Review
- Comment on "Hall et al., Topical cannabidiol is well tolerated in individuals with a history of elite physical performance and chronic lower extremity pain".Journal of cannabis research · 2024Article
- Phytocannabinoids for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain: A Scoping Review of Randomised Controlled Trials Published Between 2012 and 2023.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Article
- URB937 Prevents the Development of Mechanical Allodynia in Male Rats with Trigeminal Neuralgia.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- A Brief Review on the Novel Therapies for Painful Diabetic Neuropathy.Current pain and headache reports · 2023Review
- Novel Drug Targets and Emerging Pharmacotherapies in Neuropathic Pain.Pharmaceutics · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChronic neuropathic pain (NP) presents therapeutic challenges. Interest in the use of cannabis-based medications has outpaced the knowledge of its efficacy and safety in treating NP. The objective of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of cannabis-based medications in individuals with chronic NP.
methodsRandomized placebo-controlled trials using tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabidivarin (CBDV), or synthetic cannabinoids for NP treatment were included. The MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were examined. The primary outcome was the NP intensity. The risk of bias analysis was based on the Cochrane handbook.
resultsThe search of databases up to 2/1/2021 yielded 379 records with 17 RCTs included (861 patients with NP). Meta-analysis showed that there was a significant reduction in pain intensity for THC/CBD by -6.624 units (P < .001), THC by -8.681 units (P < .001), and dronabinol by -6.0 units (P = .008) compared to placebo on a 0-100 scale. CBD, CBDV, and CT-3 showed no significant differences. Patients taking THC/CBD were 1.756 times more likely to achieve a 30% reduction in pain (P = .008) and 1.422 times more likely to achieve a 50% reduction (P = .37) than placebo. Patients receiving THC had a 21% higher improvement in pain intensity (P = .005) and were 1.855 times more likely to achieve a 30% reduction in pain than placebo (P < .001).
conclusionAlthough THC and THC/CBD interventions provided a significant improvement in pain intensity and were more likely to provide a 30% reduction in pain, the evidence was of moderate-to-low quality. Further research is needed for CBD, dronabinol, CT-3, and CBDV.
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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.