Intravenous methocarbamol for acute pain after spine surgery: a target trial emulation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Skeletal muscle relaxants are often included in multimodal analgesic regimens following spine surgery, but their actual effectiveness remains unclear due to limited and inconsistent evidence. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous methocarbamol in reducing acute postoperative pain and opioid consumption after elective spine surgery.

Methods

This emulated target trial used electronic health record data from patients undergoing elective spine surgery (posterior spinal fusion, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, laminectomy/laminotomy) between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2023. The exposure was intravenous methocarbamol (≥500 mg) administered within 2 hours postoperatively compared with usual care without methocarbamol. The primary outcome was

SUBMITTER: Potnuru P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12602086 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature