Painkiller prescribed to millions ‘not that effective’ for chronic pain – harms outweigh benefits, research reveals

Experts warned that a widely prescribed painkiller may not be as effective as once thought to relieve long -term pain.

Opioid drug tramadol, which is commonly prescribed for mid -to -severe pain, can provide short -term relief; However, new research suggests that the benefits of chronic pain are ‘limited’.

Danish scientists analyzing health records of more than 6,500 patients found that the drug increased the risk of serious side effects, including heart disease.

The Rigshospital team in Copenhagen, which publishes his findings in the UN evidence -based medical magazine, said that the potential damages of the tramadol are probably more outweighed from their humble benefits.

They reviewed 19 clinical studies covering patients with chronic pain and concluded that tramadol and similar opioids should ‘minimize the most possible’.

Doctors have long warned that patients waiting for months for NHS operations were usually left to tramadol and other opioids for dangerously long periods of time and leaving them with the risk of addiction.

Tramadol is one of the most commonly prescribed opioid painkillers in the UK, and hundreds of thousands of NHS recipes are given every month.

It is the 36st medicine, which is the most prescribed in the US with more than 16 million recipes annually.

It is usually given to patients with moderate or severe pain after surgery or injury or to patients with long -term disorders such as arthritis or back problems.

The investigation included five studies examining the effect of tramadol on nerve pain; This occurs when the nerves themselves are damaged and may cause burning, firing or tingling.

Nine studies focused osteoarthritis, four long -term back pain and one fibromyalgia. Most of the patients received Tramadol as a tablet for two to 16 weeks.

Researchers said that although the effect is small, it is small and that it was not enough to make a real difference in the symptoms of patients.

They also found that people who received tramadol were about twice as much as the possibility of having side effects compared to those who use artificial pills.

These include higher proportions of chest pain, heart disease and heart failure, as well as nausea, dizziness, constipation and drowsiness.

Researchers wrote: ‘Approximately 60 million people worldwide have the addictive effects of opioids.

In 2019, drug use was responsible for about 600,000 deaths; Approximately 80 percent of them were connected to opioids and one -quarter was caused by an overdose. ‘

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, President of the Royal General Practice College, who responded to the findings, said:

‘GPs understand how weaken chronic pain can be and the serious impact of our patients on their lives.

In the United Kingdom, the practitioner physicians were advised to limit, reduce and ideally stop the prescription of tramadol for chronic pain and not to start tramadol for new patients.

‘It is often difficult to treat long -term pain because the underlying cause is not always clear, which makes it difficult to target treatment.

‘As in any case, general practitioners will look at physical, psychological and social factors affecting the health of the patient and prepare a plan together.

This is usually included in non -drug options, but access to services such as pain clinics is irregular throughout the country. ‘

In the study last year, it turned out that NHS spent almost £ 1 billion on Opioid painkillers who created dependence for five years.

The figures from Oxford University OpenPrescribing.net show that the cost of opioid prescriptions increased from £ 90 million to £ 186 million in 2023 and expenses to reach £ 189 million this year.

Royal Surgeons College warned hundreds of thousands of patients ‘waiting in pain in the waiting lists’.

Many have to rely on strong drugs to get along, confronting them with the risk of developing addictions that may continue even after surgery.