Palmitoylethanolamide in the Treatment of Failed Back Surgery Syndrome
Observational studyHumansWith tapentadol and pregabalin
This study tested palmitoylethanolamide together with tapentadol and pregabalin. Its results cannot be assigned to palmitoylethanolamide alone. More combination studies.
- Design
- Observational study
- Subjects
- 35 patients with failed back surgery syndrome
- Dose used in the study
- Ultramicronised PEA (um-PEA, Normast), added on top of tapentadol and pregabalin after one month of standard treatment
- Duration
- 3 months total, with um-PEA added for the final 2 months
- What was measured
- Pain intensity by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at baseline and 1, 2 and 3 months
What the authors reported
Tapentadol and pregabalin alone reduced VAS pain from 5.7±0.12 to 4.3±0.11 after 1 month (p<0.0001) but gave little subjective relief. Adding um-PEA produced further falls in VAS to 2.7±0.09 at month 2 and 1.7±0.11 at month 3 (p<0.0001), with no reported side effects.
Limits of this study
A small, uncontrolled observational study with no placebo arm, so the added benefit cannot be separated from time or expectation effects. Funding and conflicts not stated in the abstract.
Source
PubMed 28875041 · doi:10.1155/2017/1486010
Entry checked against the abstract on PubMed on 2026-09-22. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.