Analgesia for non-specific low back pain

What you need to knowAnalgesics have limited effect on low back pain and some, such as opioids and benzodiazepines, have substantial risksOral and, less certainly, topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have small benefits that may not be outweighed by risks (particularly gastrointestinal) for short term use for low back painAcute low back pain typically improves within a few weeks without treatment; for chronic low back pain, the focus of management should be on non-pharmacological treatments to improve function and address the broader determinates of painLow back pain is the world’s leading cause of disability.1 At any time, half a billion (9%) adults are affected.1 Many are prescribed, or use, analgesics for pain relief.2 In this article, we review what is known about common analgesics for treating non-specific low back pain (defined as pain without an identifiable structural or disease cause). We focus on adults aged 18-60 years. A previous BMJ education…
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