Muscle relaxants significantly effective in treating trigeminal neuralgia, painful cramps and neck pain: Study

The review also found that SMRs were most effective in treating specific conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia, neck pain, and painful muscle cramps. However, for more common chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia, low back pain, and headaches, SMRs did not offer significant benefits over placebo treatments. The outcomes highlighted that while some short-term relief was observed, the long-term use of SMRs may not be justified in these cases due to the lack of substantial evidence supporting their efficacy.

Common side effects of SMRs include sedation and dry mouth, which were frequently reported in the studies. The quality of evidence varied across the studies, with randomized clinical trials expressing low to moderate risk of bias, and cohort studies classified as having fair to good quality.

While SMRs may offer benefits for certain types of pain, such as neck pain or muscle cramps, clinicians should remain cautious for adverse effects and assess whether these drugs are achieving pain management goals. Overall, this study illuminates the need for more research into the long-term effects of muscle relaxants and calls for a careful approach to their use in chronic pain management in the context of reduced opioid prescriptions.

Source:

Oldfield, B. J., Gleeson, B., Morford, K. L., Adams, Z., Funaro, M. C., Becker, W. C., & Merlin, J. S. (2024). Long-Term Use of Muscle Relaxant Medications for Chronic Pain. In JAMA Network Open (Vol. 7, Issue 9, p. e2434835). American Medical Association (AMA). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.34835