Commonly prescribed drugs for back pain often ineffective, review says

with No Comments

Existing studies do not support use or show benefits for gabapentin

(CBC News) — Doctors are prescribing anti-seizure and nerve pain medications for a common type of chronic low-back pain, a non-licensed use, despite a lack of studies supporting their effectiveness for that purpose, according to a new review.

The drugs, known as gabapentinoids, include gabapentin (originally marketed under the brand name Neurontin) and pregabalin (previously sold as Lyrica alone). Health Canada approved gabapentin to treat epilepsy that isn’t controlled by conventional therapy, and pregablin is indicated for types of nerve pain.

Both medications are also prescribed for non-licensed uses, including non-specific chronic lower back pain that doesn’t involve nerves in the legs and whose cause can’t be traced. About 90 to 95 per cent of adults experience low back pain at some point.

In Tuesday’s issue of the journal PLOS Medicine, Dr. Harsha Shanthanna, an anesthesiologist and associate professor in the anesthesia department at McMaster University in Hamilton, and his team analyzed eight randomized controlled trials on use of the drugs among adults with chronic low back pain.

“There are very few studies that allow physicians to make informed decisions. That’s probably one of the most important findings,” Shanthanna said in an interview. “Whatever studies do exist do not support its use or do not show a benefit in the form of pain relief.”

read full story