Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Pharmacological Agents for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Bivariate Bayesian Network Meta-analysis Protocol.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Non-specific chronic low back pain is a leading cause of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) with a lifetime prevalence of 80%-85%. Although many modalities of treating chronic low back pain are available, pharmacotherapy remains a very important treatment modality, according to many recognised guidelines. Each of these pharmacological agents has evidence supporting its efficacy in treating chronic low back pain, and each of them is associated with side effects. At present, no study has unified these two outcomes or ranked them from the most effective to the least effective. Thus, this study aims to identify pharmacological agents that rank best by conducting multivariate bivariate network meta-analysis.

Methods

Four databases (Medline/Pubmed, Cochrane Centra

SUBMITTER: Aremu O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12481260 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature