Less Tramadol Prescriptions in Adults Under Chiropractic Care

On May 1, 2024, the British Medical Journal Open edition, (BMJ Open), published the results of a study showing that patients with radicular low back pain are less likely to get prescriptions for tramadol compared to those patients with the same condition under typical medical care.

According to the HealthDirect resource website from Australia, "Tramadol is an opioid medicine used for the short-term relief of moderate to severe pain." They explain, "Tramadol works directly on opioid receptors in the central nervous system and reduces feelings of pain by interrupting the way nerves signal pain between the brain and the body."

In this study, researchers reviewed thousands of patients' records who had been suffering with radicular lower back pain. They then eliminated thousands of potential subject's records until they had two groups of closely similar conditions and circumstances. Of this final group, there was 1171 people with radicular low back pain who received chiropractic care. This group was known as the "CSM" group, (short for Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation.) They also identified 1171 patients with similar radicular low back pain who received "usual medical care" and did not receive chiropractic care.

The researchers were careful to not consider patient records of people in either group whose health history were not similar to the rest of the people in the two groups. They wanted the only difference to be that one group received chiropractic care. The researchers looked at the records of these people to see if, over the course of a year, patients receiving chiropractic care had been prescribed Tramadol at a different frequency than those who got chiropractic care.

The study showed that patients with radicular lower back pain, who received usual medical care, were more than three times more likely to get a prescription for tramadol as compared to those who receive chiropractic care.

In their conclusion, the researchers summed up their findings by saying, "This study found that US adults initially receiving CSM for radicular LBP had a reduced likelihood of receiving a tramadol prescription over 1-year follow-up."

Considering all the additional issues and side effects that come with this type of medication, Chiropractic should be considered as a viable avenue of care for patients with radicular lower back pain.