Is Buprenorphine Effective for Chronic Pain? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The objective was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature on the effects of buprenorphine on chronic pain outcomes (i.e., patient-reported pain intensity) in patients with and without opioid use disorder (OUD).

DESIGN:

Ovid/Medline, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies that explored the effectiveness (in reducing pain) of buprenorphine treatment for chronic pain patients with and without a history of OUD. Randomized controlled trials and observational studies were included in the review.

METHODS:

Two separate searches were conducted to identify buprenorphine trials that included chronic pain patients either with or without OUD. Five studies used validated pain report measures and included a chronic pain population with OUD. Nine studies used validated report measures and included chronic pain patients without OUD. Meta-analysis was performed using the R, version 3.2.2, Metafor package, version 1.9-7.

RESULTS:

The meta-analysis revealed that buprenorphine has a beneficial effect on pain intensity overall, with a small mean effect size in patients with comorbid chronic pain and OUD and a moderate- to large-sized effect in chronic pain patients without OUD.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our results indicate that buprenorphine is modestly beneficial in reducing pain intensity in patients without OUD. Although informative, these findings should be carefully interpreted due to the small amount of data available and the variation in study designs.

• Authors: Asimina Lazaridou, Myrella Paschali, Robert R Edwards, Christopher Gilligan
• Journal: Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) (Pain Med) Vol. 21 Issue 12 Pg. 3691-3699 (12 25 2020) ISSN: 1526-4637 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 32330264 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Systematic Review)
• Copyright: © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].

Chemical References

• Analgesics, Opioid
• Buprenorphine

Topics

• Analgesics, Opioid (therapeutic use)
• Buprenorphine (therapeutic use)
• Chronic Pain (drug therapy)
• Humans
• Opioid-Related Disorders (drug therapy)