A new study found that duloxetine, a medication that is prescribed to treat depression and may also reduce chronic pain, did not benefit patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis.
Off-label uses for duloxetine include chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and stress urinary incontinence. It is in the Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) class of medications.
An open label, cluster randomised trial was conducted in patients experiencing chronic osteoarthritis-related pain in the hip or knee that did not go away with paracetamol and NSAIDs. Of 133 patients, 66 were assigned to duloxetine 60mg/day plus usual care and 66 were assigned to only usual care.
The findings, published in Arthritis & Rheumatology howed that duloxetine did not lessen WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) pain at 3 months or 12 months. For the subgroup of patients with symptoms of centralised pain no effect of duloxetine was found either.
“There was no clinically relevant effect of duloxetine added to usual care compared to usual care alone for chronic osteoarthritis pain, and it should not be implemented,” the authors concluded.
Source: Wiley
