Study: Opioids no more effective than other pain medications

In a new study published Tuesday in the journal JAMA, researchers found patients taking opioid painkillers managed their pain no better than patients taking safer, alternative pain medications.

The study, Effect of Opioid vs Nonopioid Medications on Pain-Related Function in Patients With Chronic Back Pain or Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis Pain, is the first randomized clinical trial to make a head-to-head comparison between opioids and other forms of pain medications.

The researchers studied 240 patients from Veterans Affairs primary care clinics with moderate to severe chronic back pain, or hip or knee osteoarthritis pain despite taking analgesics. The participants' average age was 58. After a 12-month period, researchers found the use of opioids versus non opioid medications did not result in significantly improved pain-related function.

"Treatment with opioids was not superior to treatment with non opioid medications for improving pain-related function over 12 months. Results do not support initiation of opioid therapy for moderate to severe chronic back pain or hip or knee osteoarthritis pain," the study stated.

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In fact, researchers found participants taking non opioid painkillers, such as Tylenol, ibuprofen and lidocaine, experienced less pain intensity than those taking opioid drugs, such as morphine, Vicodin and oxycodone. Additionally, patients taking opioid painkillers were more likely to experience negative side effects than those taking non opioid painkillers, according to the study.

"Overall, opioids did not demonstrate any advantage over non opioid medications that could potentially outweigh their greater risk of harms," wrote the researchers, led by Dr. Erin Krebs of the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System's Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research.

Krebs and her team said the driving force behind their research is the country's escalating opioid epidemic and related overdose deaths, the Los Angeles Times Reported, which according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, claims 115 American lives per day.

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