GOT back pain? Think once, twice and then again before taking any opioid-based painkillers, warn international experts after the release of groundbreaking new research.
It found opioids were no better than ibuprofen or paracetamol at reducing lower back pain over a 12-month period, yet these opioids came with the threat of dependence and addiction, which has been blamed for an increase in accidental overdoses.
A long-term trial by Erin Krebs and the Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System studied 240 veterans taking opioids for chronic back and knee pain compared with those treated by non-opioids. The results were presented at a major medical conference in the US, but are yet to be published.
"The data do not support opioids' reputation as 'powerful painkillers'," Dr Krebs told the medical publication The Back Letter.
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