Abstract

Despite the widespread use of opioid medications to treat chronic pain, there is no significant evidence to support this practice. A recent article reviewing the evidence regarding the use of opioids to treat chronic non-cancer pain concluded, there is no high- quality evidence on the efficacy of long-term opioid treatment of chronic non- malignant pain. A recent Cochrane review comparing opioids to placebo in the treatment of low back pain came to a similar conclusion. This review said that there may be some benefit over placebo when used for short term treatment, but no evidence supports opioids are helpful when used for longer than four months.

Keywords: Medications; Opioids; Chronic pain; Back and neck pain;Epidemiology; Therapy