ACP Journal Club. Review: Topical nitroglycerin reduces pain during ADL in patients with chronic tendinopathies.

Clinical inquiries. Are topical nitrates safe and effective for upper extremity tendinopathies?

Topical nitrates provide shortterm relief with some side effects, especially headache. Topical nitroglycerin (NTG) patches improve subjective pain scores by about 30% and range of motion over 3 days in patients with acute shoulder tendinopathy (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C, small randomized controlled trial [RCT] with no methodologic flaws). NTG patches, when combined with tendon rehabil...

Review: opioids are more effective than placebo but not other analgesics for chronic noncancer pain.

Review: tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants are moderately effective for reducing chronic low-back pain.

S t u d y s e l e c t i o n a n d a s s e s s m e n t Studies in any language were selected if they were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared oral antidepressants with placebo in patients with back pain. Studies with insufficient data to assess treatment response were excluded. Methodological quality was assessed using a 22-point scale based on the 19-point criteria developed by th...

Review: high initial pain intensity is associated with persisting symptoms after whiplash.

Review: dipyridamole given with or without aspirin reduces recurrent stroke.