Controlled-Release Codeine Effective for Patients With Osteoarthritis

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Controlled-Release Codeine Effective for Patients With Osteoarthritis

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WESTPORT, Apr 10 (Reuters Health) - Patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or

knee benefit from treatment with controlled-release codeine, according to the

results of a double-blind study published in the March issue of the Journal of

Rheumatology.

Dr. M. Peloso, of the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, and a

multicenter team studied 66 patients who had chronic pain from osteoarthritis.

Thirty-one of the patients received controlled-release codeine and 35 received a

placebo.

According to the report, the patients receiving codeine initially received 50 mg

every 12 hours. By the end of the 4-week study the codeine dose had been

increased to 159 mg every 12 hours. All patients completed weekly

self-administered questionnaires.

The researchers found that patients receiving controlled-release codeine showed

a 44.8% improvement over baseline pain scores compared with 12.3% improvement

reported by patients taking placebo, a statistically significant difference.

Dr. Peloso and colleagues write that in addition, " patients in this study also

reported improvements in quality of sleep and physical function, important

determinants of quality of life in patients with chronic musculoskeletal

disease. "

The researchers note that for patients who do not have a history of substance

abuse, the possibility of physical addiction to opioid analgesics is slight. The

authors also note that physicians must not fail to distinguish physical from

psychological dependence when prescribing opioid analgesics.