Ultramicronized palmitoylethanolamide in spinal cord injury neuropathic pain: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Randomised controlled trialHumans
- Design
- Randomised controlled trial
- Subjects
- 73 people with nerve pain after spinal cord injury randomised at several centres in Denmark. 68 were in the main analysis.
- Dose used in the study
- Ultramicronised palmitoylethanolamide, added to usual treatment. The dose was not visible on the page checked.
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- What was measured
- Change in average nerve pain intensity on a 0 to 10 scale. Spasticity, evoked pain, sleep, anxiety, depression and overall impression of change.
What the authors reported
The authors reported no difference in pain intensity between palmitoylethanolamide and placebo (P = 0.46). Pain scores fell by 0.4 points on palmitoylethanolamide and 0.7 points on placebo. They found no effect on spasticity, sleep or psychological measures. Palmitoylethanolamide was not associated with more adverse effects than placebo.
Limits of this study
One of the larger and more rigorous trials, run by an independent academic pain group, and it found no effect. Participants had long-standing pain after spinal cord injury and stayed on their usual pain medication, so the result may not carry over to other kinds of pain. The entry was checked against the abstract on a university research portal.
Source
doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000623
Entry checked against the abstract on the Aalborg University research portal on 2026-09-21. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.