Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42872255›Full record

ArticlePain reports2026

Open-label placebo treatment for acute postoperative pain (OLP-POP study): a randomized controlled trial.

Dilan Sezer, Matthijs de Leeuw, Andrea H Meyer, Sarah Buergler, Cordula Netzer, Cosima Locher, Jens Gaab, Wilhelm Ruppen, Tobias Schneider

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In one paragraph

Article in Pain reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Dilan SezerDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4751-8387
Matthijs de LeeuwPain Unit, Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Andrea H MeyerDivision of Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Sarah BuerglerDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Cordula NetzerDepartment of Spine Surgery, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Cosima LocherDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Jens GaabDivision of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Wilhelm RuppenPain Unit, Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Tobias SchneiderPain Unit, Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Treatment options for acute postoperative pain are often limited and associated with side effects and negative consequences. Therefore, effective, accessible, and safe alternatives are needed to extend existing multimodal analgesia concepts. Open-label placebos (OLPs) are discussed as a means to do so in various experimental and clinical conditions. Objective: With this randomized controlled trial, we aimed to investigate whether OLPs have the potential to reduce opioid consumption in patients suffering from postoperative pain after dorsal lumbar interbody fusion (dLIF) surgery. Methods: In this study, 65 patients with acute postoperative pain after dLIF were randomly assigned to 2 groups. One group received treatment as usual (TAU) including a patient-controlled morphine pump, whereas the other group additionally received 2 daily OLP injections during the first 2 postoperative days. As an indirect measure of pain and desire for pain relief, the primary outcome was defined as the cumulative amount of morphine consumed during the intervention period of 48 hours. Results: In our elderly study population, an analysis of covariance showed no significant differences in morphine consumption between the OLP and TAU group (estimate = -6.94, SE = 5.75, t[60] = -1.21, P = 0.880, d = -0.15). Conclusion: These findings suggest that transferring the effects of OLPs from experimental studies with younger participants to clinical studies might not be feasible. Further research should confirm these results and explore additional methodological factors such as administration mode and observation time frame.

Indexed as

Acute postoperative painLumbar interbody fusionOpen-label placeboOpioidsPlacebo analgesiaPostoperative analgesia

Identifiers

PMID42872255
PMCPMC13661111

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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.