[Low dose naltrexone for treatment of pain]

Ugeskr Laeger. 2015 Oct 9;177(43):V03150248.
[Article in Danish]

Abstract

Recent years have seen an increasing interest in the use of low dose naltrexone (LDN) for off-label treatment of pain in diseases as fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and morbus Crohn. The evidence is poor, with only few randomized double-blind placebo-controlled studies. The studies currently available are reviewed in this paper. LDN could be a potentially useful drug in the future for the treatment of pain in fibromyalgia, but more studies are needed to verify that it is superior to placebo, and currently it cannot be recommended as first-line therapy.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Analgesics, Opioid / pharmacokinetics
  • Crohn Disease / drug therapy
  • Fibromyalgia / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Multiple Sclerosis / drug therapy
  • Naltrexone / administration & dosage*
  • Naltrexone / pharmacokinetics
  • Naltrexone / therapeutic use
  • Narcotic Antagonists / administration & dosage*
  • Narcotic Antagonists / pharmacokinetics
  • Narcotic Antagonists / therapeutic use
  • Pain / drug therapy*

Substances

  • Analgesics, Opioid
  • Narcotic Antagonists
  • Naltrexone