Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for low back pain - A systematic review within the framework of the Cochrane Collaboration back review group

Study Design. A systematic review of randomized and double-blind controlled trials was performed. Summary of Background Data. Nonsteroidal anti-in-flammatory drugs are the m ost frequently prescribed medications worldwide and are widely used for pat ients with tow back pain. Objectives. To assess the effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs in the treatment of nonspecific low back pain with or without radiation, and to assess which type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug is most effecti ve. Methods. For this study, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, Medline a nd Embase, and reference lists of articles were searched. Two reviewers bli nded with respect to authors, institution, and journal independently extrac ted data and assessed the methodologic quality of the studies. If data were considered clinically homogeneous, a meta-analysis was performed. If data were considered clinically heterogeneous, a qualitative analysis was perfor med using a rating system with four levels of evidence: strong, moderate, l imited, and no evidence. Results. This review involved 51 trials and 6057 patients. Of these trials, 16 (31%) were of high quality. The pooled relative risk for global improve ment after 1 week was 1.24 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.10-1.41), and for additional analgesic use was 1.29 (95% CI = 1.05-1.57), indicating a st atistically significant but small effect in favor of nonsteroidal anti-infl ammatory drugs as compared with a placebo. The results of the qualitative a nalysis showed that there is conflicting evidence (Level 3) that nonsteroid al anti-inflammatory drugs are more effective than paracetamol for acute lo w back pain, and that there is moderate evidence (Level 2) that nonsteroida l anti-inflammatory drugs are not more effective than other drugs for acute low back pain. There is strong evidence (Level 1) that various types of no nsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are equally effective for acute low back pain. Conclusions. The evidence from the 51 trials included in this review sugges ts that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are effective for short-term s ymptomatic relief in patients with acute low back pain. Furthermore, there does not seem to be a specific type of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug t hat is clearly more effective than others. Sufficient evidence on chronic l ow back pain stilt is lacking.