Landmark Long-term Study Shows Opioids No Better Than Standard NSAIDs For Back Pain

[ReSTART]

In the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) with long-term follow-up comparing opioids with non-opioid medications, Erin E. Krebs, MD, and colleagues from the Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System found that opioids provided no better pain relief for patients with low back pain or painful osteoarthritis than safer analgesics such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and acetaminophen—and other nonopioid pain medications.

Landmark Trial Punctures the Myth That Opioids Provide... : The Back Letter

 

[DaveFoster]

Equianalgesic - Wikipedia

 

[Nokoni]

As Sapolsky says (Why Zerbras Don't Get Ulcers):

Whenever something painful happens to me, amid all the distress I am surprised at being reminded of how painful pain is. That thought is always followed by another, “What if I hurt like this all the time?” Chronic pain syndromes are extraordinarily debilitating.

Even the best analgesia may be insufficient. In addition to analgesia, opioids offer the potential for unconsciousness, which at times can be a blessing. Can't get that from aspirin. Back in the day I heard it put as follows: "Heroin has all the benefits of death without the permanence."

 

[Basonh]

“No better then nsaids “ is an understatement opoids are known to exasperate inflammation and are neurotoxic to cells Which long terms lead to increased pain Thus begins the vicious cycle