Broadly prescribed opioid reveals minimal ache aid and better coronary heart danger, examine finds

By Khloe Quill

Published December 25, 2025

A broadly prescribed opioid painkiller confirmed restricted effectiveness and elevated danger of destructive results in a brand new evaluation printed in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.

The examine examined tramadol, a standard prescription opioid used to deal with continual ache.

Tramadol has traditionally been perceived as a safer or much less addictive opioid, which has contributed to its widespread use in continual ache therapy, the examine authors famous.

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“Often, we may use tramadol to avoid more addictive drugs like other opioids, though in fact tramadol is a synthetic opioid. It is much milder,” Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News, informed Fox News Digital.

In the brand new evaluation, researchers used knowledge from 19 randomized medical trials involving 6,506 adults with circumstances together with osteoarthritis, continual low again ache, neuropathic ache and fibromyalgia. All the research in contrast tramadol to a placebo therapy.

The stage of ache aid related to tramadol fell under the brink sometimes thought of clinically essential. (iStock)

Overall, tramadol led to a small lower in ache, however the quantity of aid was lower than what’s normally thought of clinically significant, the authors reported.

“It is notable how minimal the pain reduction was and how clearly the study highlighted the elevated risk of serious adverse events, even over relatively short trial durations,” Alopi M. Patel, M.D., ache medication doctor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York City, informed Fox News Digital. (Patel was not concerned within the examine.)

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Participants receiving tramadol skilled a better danger of hostile occasions, each severe and non-serious, in contrast with these receiving a placebo. 

Serious hostile occasions primarily included cardiovascular occasions, equivalent to chest ache, coronary artery illness and congestive coronary heart failure. The authors concluded that tramadol possible will increase the chance of heart-related points.

Serious hostile occasions had been primarily pushed by cardiovascular outcomes, together with chest ache, coronary artery illness and congestive coronary heart failure. (iStock)

The authors concluded that the advantages of tramadol for continual ache are small and that the harms possible outweigh the advantages. The findings name into query using tramadol for continual ache circumstances, they said.

Study limitations

Most of the trials included within the evaluation had been quick, with therapy intervals starting from two to 16 weeks and follow-up intervals from three to fifteen weeks. 

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This restricted the flexibility to evaluate long-term outcomes, the researchers acknowledged.

The authors reported that many outcomes had a excessive danger of bias, which can have exaggerated the obvious advantages and minimized the reported harms.

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The trials concerned a number of several types of continual ache, however the knowledge weren’t detailed sufficient to attract conclusions for any particular situation. This makes it “harder to generalize the findings to specific patient populations,” famous Patel.

Most trials had been quick in length and in contrast tramadol solely with a placebo — limiting conclusions about long-term results and comparisons with different remedies. (iStock)

Though the examine has worth, Siegel stated, “looking at slight increased rates of cancer or heart disease among those on the drug is completely misleading, because it is not controlled for other factors and there is no evidence or hint of causation.”

“You would have to first look at underlying characteristics of that group who took the meds.”

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The physician additionally identified that the examine “doesn’t compare [tramadol] with full-on opioids like Percocet.”

Experts emphasize that sufferers mustn’t cease taking tramadol abruptly, as doing so can result in withdrawal signs. Those trying to change their remedy ought to seek the advice of a health care provider.

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“I recommend that clinicians and patients engage in transparent, shared decision-making that considers tramadol’s modest benefits alongside its risks,” Patel suggested.

Fox News Digital reached out to a number of producers of tramadol requesting remark.

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