(Laura Bailey-Michigan/ Futurity) — According to some estimates, chronic pain affects up to 40% of Americans, and treating it frustrates both clinicians and patients—a frustration that a hesitation to prescribe opioids often compounds.
Naltrexone is a semi-synthetic opioid first developed in 1963 as an oral alternative to naloxone, the nasal spray used to reverse opioid drug overdoses. When prescribed at doses of 50 to 100 milligrams, naltrexone blocks the effects of alcohol and opioids.
People have used low-dose naltrexone off-label for years to treat chronic pain, but this is the first in-depth, systematic review of the literature to determine if the drug indeed offers a good option for patients and deserves a more formal study, says Elizabeth Hatfield, a clinical lecturer in the oral and maxillofacial surgery department and hospital dentistry at the University of Michigan. (…)