Combined Medication for Improved Analgesia in Superficial Pain

Summary

This research study is being done to assess if a combination of medications can enhance the relief of superficial pain (pain at the surface of the skin, such as sunburn pain). The investigators also want to find out if certain genes may be linked to individual differences in experienced efficacy of pain killers. The combination of medications under investigation is diclofenac and atropine. Diclofenac has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat pain. Atropine has been approved by the FDA to treat certain types of poisoning, heartbeat problems, and other diseases but atropine is not approved to treat pain. However, atropine has been used for many years in different European countries to treat painful conditions such as stomach cramps.This research study will compare diclofenac and atropine to placebo.

Timeline

Start

2014-04

Primary completion

2014-11

Completion

2017-06

Publications

• Results Berna C, Kirsch I, Zion SR, Lee YC, Jensen KB, Sadler P, Kaptchuk TJ, Edwards RR. Side effects can enhance treatment response through expectancy effects: an experimental analgesic randomized controlled trial. Pain. 2017 Jun;158(6):1014-1020. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000870.
• Laursen DR, Nejstgaard CH, Bjorkedal E, Frost AD, Hansen MR, Paludan-Muller AS, Prosenz J, Werner CP, Hrobjartsson A. Impact of active placebo controls on estimated drug effects in randomised trials: a systematic review of trials with both active placebo and standard placebo. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023 Mar 6;3(3):MR000055. doi: 10.1002/14651858.MR000055.pub2.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.