Opioids were found to have no benefit over non-opioid medications in relieving chronic pain, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Tuesday.
The randomized clinical trial included 240 participants from Veteran Affairs primary care clinics who were seeking treatment for chronic pain related to their back, hip, knee or osteoarthritis. The average age of participants was 58.3 and majority male, with 32 female participants.
This is not an accurate presentation of this study. The study focused on persons who had intermittent chronic pain, primarily osteoarthritis, and excluded persons with intractable pain who were stable on higher doses of opiates. It is important to note that the converted MME 12.5 was too low a dose to produce much change under any circumstances, but the analgesia fx was roughly the equivalent of the NSAIDs. Over a 12 mo period, at the doses involved, neither dose performed better than the other. Both groups had benefit over 12 mos from the baseline.
I spent almost a month in Vanderbilt 2014 and had several out patient procedures later. Every time the pain medicine recommended was an opioid and every time I requested something else. I wonder how many individuals are addicted because of this.