A new study reveals that tramadol, a powerful opioid painkiller, is not effective in relieving the chronic pain it is prescribed to treat.
The results indicated that Tramadol likely increases the risk of serious side effects, including heart disease, leading researchers to conclude that Tramadol’s potential harms likely outweigh its benefits, and that its use should be minimized.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Copenhagen Trials Unit, the Center for Clinical Intervention Research in Denmark, and their results were published in the journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine on October 7, and the website “Eurek Alert” wrote about it.
Tramadol is an opioid analgesic, widely prescribed to treat moderate to severe acute and chronic pain, and therefore recommended in many medical guidelines for pain management.
Its use has increased dramatically in recent years, and it is now among the most commonly prescribed opioids in the United States, perhaps because of its low risk of side effects and the widespread belief that it is safer and less addictive than other opioids, they said.
The researchers examined research databases for clinical trials published through February that compared tramadol to placebo for patients with chronic pain, including cancer pain.
The effect is less than that of pain relief
According to the study, 19 trials were conducted on humans including 6,506 participants suffering from chronic pain. 5 trials investigated the effect of tramadol on nerve pain, 9 trials focused on osteoarthritis, 4 trials investigated chronic low back pain, and one trial focused on fibromyalgia.
Analysis of the data showed that although tramadol relieved pain, its effect was minimal and below what is considered effective.
Eight of the trials showed the proportion of serious side effects that appeared after treatment during follow-up periods that ranged between 7 and 16 weeks.
Statistical analysis of the results of these trials indicated a doubling of the risk of harm associated with tramadol compared to placebo, mainly due to the higher incidence of heart health-related effects, such as chest pain and coronary artery disease.
Data analysis of all trial results indicated that tramadol treatment was associated with a higher risk of several mild side effects, including nausea, dizziness, constipation, and drowsiness.
Researchers indicate that about 60 million people around the world suffer from the addictive effects of opioids.