Low back pain (LBP) is commonly treated with opioid analgesics despite evidence that these medicines provide minimal or no benefit for LBP and have an established profile of harms. International guidelines discourage or urge caution with the use of opioids for back pain; however, doctors [...]
Increasing harms related to prescription opioids over the past decade have led to the introduction of a range of key national and state policy initiatives across Australia. These include introducing a mandatory real-time prescription drug–monitoring program in the state of Victoria from April 2020 and [...]
Although NSAIDs are recommended as a first line analgesic treatment, opioids are very commonly prescribed to patients with low back pain (LBP) despite risks of harms. This study aimed to determine factors contributing to general practitioners’ (GPs’) prescribing choices to patients with chronic LBP in [...]
Total hip and knee arthroplasties are common surgeries performed worldwide, but the management of pain during the subacute period (defined as hospital discharge to 3 months postoperatively) is poorly understood. This study aimed to determine patients' experiences, facilitators and barriers to subacute pain management following total [...]
The prevalence of neonatal abstinence syndrome is increasing, but the number and quality of clinical practice guidelines available are unknown. This systematic review aimed to identify, appraise and evaluate clinical practice guidelines for neonatal abstinence syndrome. Methods: A systematic search of databases and the grey [...]
The OPPICO cohort is a population-based cohort based on non-identifiable electronic health records routinely collected from 464 general practices in Victoria, Australia, created with the aim of understanding opioid prescribing, policy impacts and clinical outcomes. The aim of this paper is to provide a profile [...]
Pharmacological interventions are the most used treatment for low back pain (LBP). Use of evidence from systematic reviews of the effects of pharmacological interventions for LBP published in the Cochrane Library, is limited by lack of a comprehensive overview.
Objective To evaluate the comparative effectiveness and safety of analgesic medicines for acute non-specific low back pain.
This overview of systematic reviews summarised evidence on the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of antidepressants for 26 pain conditions. No review presented high certainty evidence on the efficacy of antidepressants. Moderate certainty evidence supported the efficacy of SNRIs, mostly duloxetine at median doses of 60-120 [...]
The risk–benefit balance of opioids versus placebo, paracetamol, NSAIDs, and local or systemic anesthetics is uncertain. Opioids may have equivalent pain outcomes compared with NSAIDs, but evidence on comparisons of harms is very uncertain and heterogeneous. Although factors such as route of administration or dosage [...]