Cited by 398Cannabis and Cannabinoid ResearchPain Mechanisms and TreatmentsPain Management and Opioid Use

Cannabinoids for treatment of chronic non‐cancer pain; a systematic review of randomized trials

Open access
Lynch, Mary E., Campbell, Fiona·2011·British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology

Abstract

Effective therapeutic options for patients living with chronic pain are limited. The pain relieving effect of cannabinoids remains unclear. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining cannabinoids in the treatment of chronic non‐cancer pain was conducted according to the PRISMA statement update on the QUORUM guidelines for reporting systematic reviews that evaluate health care interventions. Cannabinoids studied included smoked cannabis, oromucosal extracts of cannabis based medicine, nabilone, dronabinol and a novel THC analogue. Chronic non‐cancer pain conditions included neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and mixed chronic pain. Overall the quality of trials was excellent. Fifteen of the eighteen trials that met the inclusion criteria demonstrated a significant analgesic effect of cannabinoid as compared with placebo and several reported significant improvements in sleep. There were no serious adverse effects. Adverse effects most commonly reported were generally well tolerated, mild to moderate in severity and led to withdrawal from the studies in only a few cases. Overall there is evidence that cannabinoids are safe and modestly effective in neuropathic pain with preliminary evidence of efficacy in fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. The context of the need for additional treatments for chronic pain is reviewed. Further large studies of longer duration examining specific cannabinoids in homogeneous populations are required. Linked Article This article is linked to a themed issue in the British Journal of Pharmacology on Respiratory Pharmacology. To view this issue visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2011.163.issue‐1

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2011.03970.x

Cites

62 of 62 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. [6]6. Anand P, Whiteside G, Fowler CJ, Hohmann AG. Targeting CB2 receptorsand the endocannabinoid systemfor the treatment of pain. Brain Res Rev 2008; 60: 255-66.
  2. [14]14. Elia N, Tramer MR. Ketamine and postoperative pain-a quantitative systematic review. Pain 2005; 113: 61-70.
  3. [33]33. Wissell J, Haydn T, Muller JE, Schelosky LD, Brenneis C, Berger T, Poewe W. Low dose treatment with the synthetic cannabinoid Nabilone significantly reduces spasticity-rleated pain. J Neurol 2006; 253: 1337-41.
  4. [37]37. Karst M, Salim K, Burstein S, Conrad I, Hoy L, Schneider U. Analgesic effect of the synthetic cannabinoid CT-3 on chronic neuropathic pain. JAMA 2003; 290: 1757-62.
  5. [38]38. Salim K, Schneider U, Burstein S, Hoy L, Karst M. Pain measurements and side effect profile of the novel cannabinoid ajulemic acid. Neuropharmacology 2005; 48: 1164-71.
  6. [53]53. Deandrea S, Montanari M, Moja L, Apolone G. Prevalence of undertreatment of cancer pain. Ann Oncol 2008; 19: 1985-91.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Lynch, M. E., & Campbell, F.
Affiliations
  • Dalhousie University (CA)
  • University of Toronto (CA)
Corresponding author
Lynch, Mary E.
Venue
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2011-10-11
Volume
72
Issue
5
Pages
735-744
ISSN
  • 0306-5251 (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-2125
OpenAlex
W1589884020
Cited by
397
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 51 · 2014: 35 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 24
FWCI
3.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Opioid Use
Keywords
cannabinoids, chronic non-cancer pain, neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, cannabis smoking, nabilone, dronabinol, analgesic effect, sleep improvement, adverse effects, tolerability
MeSH terms
Cannabinoids, Humans, Neuralgia, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Analgesics, Non-Narcotic, Chronic Pain

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review