ReviewPharmaceutics2022
Effects of Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) on Nociceptive, Musculoskeletal and Neuropathic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Evidence.
Review in Pharmaceutics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of Essential Oils in Relieving Cancer Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Palmitoylethanolamide in the Treatment of Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trials.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Evaluation of the Clinical Efficacy of a Novel Palmitoylethanolamide-Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Palmitoylethanolamide in Human and Animal Obesity.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Age differences in endocannabinoid tone are ameliorated after recent cannabis use.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Palmitoylethanolamide for Nickel Allergy: Plausible, Untested, and Worth Considering.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Immune Dysregulation in Depression and Anxiety: A Review of the Immune Response in Disease and Treatment.Cells · 2025Review
- Palmitoylethanolamide supplementation for human health: A state-of-the-art systematic review of Randomized Controlled Trials in patient populations.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Review
- A Decades-Long Journey of Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) for Chronic Neuropathic Pain Management: A Comprehensive Narrative Review.Pain and therapy · 2025Review
- Integrative natural health solutions for midlife women.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Article
- Musculoskeletal and Neuropathic Pain in COVID-19.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Palmitoylethanolamide causes dose-dependent changes in brain function and the lipidome.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- Novel drug treatments for pain in advanced cancer and serious illness: a focus on neuropathic pain and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.Palliative care and social practice · 2024Review
- 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
10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Some 30−50% of the global population and almost 20% of the European population actually suffer from chronic pain, which presents a tremendous burden to society when this pain turns into a disability and hospitalization. Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) has been demonstrated to improve pain in preclinical contexts, but an appraisal of clinical evidence is still lacking. The present study aimed at addressing the working hypothesis for the efficacy of PEA for nociceptive musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain in the clinical setting. The systematic search, selection and analysis were performed in agreement with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 recommendations. The primary outcome was pain reduction, as measured by a pain assessment scale. The secondary outcome was improvement in quality of life and/or of parameters of function. The results obtained for a total of 933 patients demonstrate the efficacy of PEA over the control (p < 0.00001), in particular in six studies apart from the two randomized, double-blind clinical trials included. However, the results are downgraded due to the high heterogeneity of the studies (I2 = 99%), and the funnel plot suggests publication bias. Efficacy in achieving a reduction in the need for rescue medications and improvement in functioning, neuropathic symptoms and quality of life are reported. Therefore, adequately powered randomized, double-blind clinical trials are needed to deepen the domains of efficacy of add-on therapy with PEA for chronic pain. PROSPERO registration: CRD42022314395.
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.