Efficacy, tolerability, and dose-dependent effects of opioid analgesics for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
This systematic review examined randomized trials of opioid medications for back pain. Investigators found that a significant proportion of trial participants reported adverse effects and that recommended opioid doses only resulted in a small and short-term decrease in pain, which is deemed clinically insignificant. These results support the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation against the use of opioids for chronic nonmalignant pain.