Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), a cannabimimetic compound has been studied as an analgesic agent in animal models and clinical trials.
Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience
associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of
such damage. Various analgesic agents are used to relieve pain.
Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is one such analgesic agent that exhibits pain
relieving and anti-inflammatory activities. In this meta-analysis, the pain
relieving properties of PEA has been reviewed and it has been determined that
PEA can prove to be an efficacious agent in pain management.
Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), a cannabimimetic compound
has been studied as an analgesic agent in animal models and clinical trials.
This meta-analysis is conducted to assess the effectiveness of PEA for managing
pain in randomised, controlled trials.
EMBASE and PubMed were searched to select randomised,
active or placebo-controlled trials comprising PEA therapy for managing chronic
or acute pain. The weighted mean difference in visual analogue pain scales of
PEA treatment than inactive controls was considered as the primary endpoint.
A total of ten studies comprising 512 controls for
inclusion and 786 subjects obtained PEA was involved. Eight trials included in
the meta-analysis comprised an inactive control group. PEA was linked with
considerably higher pain decline than the inactive control. The PEA efficacy
did not influence by the presence of blinding, the duration or dose of PEA
treatment, allowance for concomitant treatments, or the use of placebo control.
The PEA group non-significantly reduced all-cause dropout as compared to the
inactive control conditions. This meta-analysis depended on a comparatively
small number of trials over a variety of infirmities generating pain with
varying trial designs. The assessment of side effects and overall quality of
underlying studies was poor.
PEA may be a beneficial therapy for pain and is usually
well tolerated in study populations. Additional, well-designed, randomised,
placebo-controlled trials are required to implement reliable estimates of its
effectiveness and to distinguish less severe inopportune events linked with
this compound.
Pain Physician. 2017 Jul;20(5):353-362.
Efficacy of Palmitoylethanolamide for Pain: A Meta-Analysis.
Artukoglu BB et al.
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