The effect of serotonin reuptake inhibitor for low back pain and leg pain influenced by psychological factors

Abstract

Patients with chronic low back pain or leg pain were treated by Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI). Twenty-seven subjects (4 males and 23 females) with an average age of 64 years were evaluated. The dose of paroxetine hydrochroride hydrate was either 10mg or 20mg/day. For pain assessment, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used and the therapy was considered to be effective when the VAS was reduced by more than 50%. Consequently, treatment was considered to be effective in 16 patients (59%) and non-effective in 11 patients (41%). In the patients where treatment was successful, theVAS changed from average 6.3 (range 4-8) before treatment to average 1.9 (range1-4) terwards. SSRI appears to be effective when treating patients with chronic low back pain or leg pain which is suspected to be strongly influenced by psychological factors.