Widely Prescribed Meds Ineffective for Low Back Pain?
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Despite being widely prescribed, muscle relaxants are largely ineffective for low back pain, new research suggests. Results of a large systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials show very "low certainty evidence" that non-benzodiazepine antispasmodics provide meaningful improvement in pain intensity in patients with low back pain — and may actually increase adverse event risk.
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@will Low back pain is a major global public health problem that burdens individuals, healthcare systems, and societies. Muscle relaxants, a broad class of drugs that include non-benzodiazepine antispasmodics and antispastics, are often prescribed for low back pain. In 2020 alone, prescriptions exceeded 1.3 million in England and topped 30 million in the United States.