Efficacy and safety of antidepressants for the treatment of back pain and osteoarthritis: systematic review and meta-analysis
Review of 33 RCTs (n=5318) found evidence that the effect of SNRIs is small and not clinically important for back pain, but a clinically important effect cannot be excluded for osteoarthritis. TCAs and SNRIs might be effective for sciatica, though evidence quality was low.
Source:
British Medical Journal
SPS commentary:
A related commentary discusses this research. Amongst other points, it states that the lack of evidence supporting drugs already widely prescribed for sciatica is perhaps surprising, and more work is needed to confirm or refute the place of these drugs in the armamentarium. It concludes that overall, drug treatments are largely ineffective for back pain and osteoarthritis and have the potential for serious harm. More work is needed to help people with these disorders to live better with their pain without recourse to the prescription pad.