A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Ibuprofen Plus Metaxalone, Tizanidine, or Baclofen for Acute Low Back Pain - 19/09/19
, Eddie Irizarry, MD a, Clemencia Solorzano, PharmD b, Eleftheria Zias, RPh b, Scott Pearlman, MD a, Andrew Wollowitz, MD a, Michael P. Jones, MD a, Purvi D. Shah, MD, MSc a, E. John Gallagher, MD aAbstract |
Study objective |
Patients with low back pain are often treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and skeletal muscle relaxants. We compare functional outcomes and pain among patients with acute low back pain who were randomized to a 1-week course of ibuprofen plus placebo versus ibuprofen plus 1 of 3 skeletal muscle relaxants: baclofen, metaxalone, and tizanidine.
Methods |
This was a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, 4-arm study conducted in 2 urban emergency departments (EDs). Patients with nonradicular low back pain for less than or equal to 2 weeks were eligible if they had a score greater than 5 on the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire, a 24-item inventory of functional impairment caused by low back pain. All participants received 21 tablets of ibuprofen 600 mg, to be taken 3 times a day as needed. Additionally, they were randomized to baclofen 10 mg, metaxalone 400 mg, tizanidine 2 mg, or placebo. Participants were instructed to take 1 or 2 of these capsules 3 times a day as needed. All participants received a 10-minute educational session. The primary outcome was improvement on the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire between ED discharge and 1week later. Secondary outcomes included pain intensity 1 week after ED discharge (severe, moderate, mild, or none).
Results |
Three hundred twenty patients were randomized. One week later, the mean Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire score of patients randomized to placebo improved by 11.1 points (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.0 to 13.3), baclofen by 10.6 points (95% CI 8.6 to 12.7), metaxalone by 10.1 points (95% CI 8.0 to 12.3), and tizanidine by 11.2 points (95% CI 9.2 to 13.2). At 1-week follow-up, 30% of placebo patients (95% CI 21% to 41%) reported moderate to severe low back pain versus 33% of baclofen patients (95% CI 24% to 44%), 37% of metaxalone patients (95% CI 27% to 48%), and 33% of tizanidine patients (95% CI 23% to 44%).
Conclusion |
Adding baclofen, metaxalone, or tizanidine to ibuprofen does not appear to improve functioning or pain any more than placebo plus ibuprofen by 1 week after an ED visit for acute low back pain.
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| Please see page 513 for the Editor’s Capsule Summary of this article. |
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| Supervising editor: Steven M. Green, MD. Specific detailed information about possible conflict of interest for individual editors is available at editors. |
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| Author contributions: BWF and EJG conceived the study. BWF, CS, EZ, and EJG designed the trial. BWF, EI, SP, AW, MPJ, and PDS collected data and supervised conduct of the trial. BWF analyzed the data. BWF and EI drafted the manuscript and all authors contributed substantially to its revision. BWF takes responsibility for the paper as a whole. |
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| All authors attest to meeting the four ICMJE.org authorship criteria: (1) Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND (2) Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND (3) Final approval of the version to be published; AND (4) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. |
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| Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article as per ICMJE conflict of interest guidelines (see www.icmje.org). This study was supported Nation Institutes of Health/National Center for Advancing Translational Science Einstein-Montefiore CTSA grant (UL1TR001073). |
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| Trial registration number: NCT03068897 |
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| A podcast for this article is available at www.annemergmed.com. |
Vol 74 - N° 4
P. 512-520 - octobre 2019 Retour au numéro
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