Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33571950›Full record

Trial reportThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2021

Nortriptyline for pain in knee osteoarthritis: a double-blind randomised controlled trial in New Zealand general practice.

Ben Hudson, Jonathan A Williman, Lisa K Stamp, John S Alchin, Gary J Hooper, Dee Mangin, Bronwyn F Lenox Thompson, Les Toop

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Antidepressants for hip and knee osteoarthritis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022
    Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Ben HudsonDepartment of General Practice, University of Otago, Christchurch.
Jonathan A WillimanBiostatistics and Computational Biology Unit, University of Otago, Christchurch.
Lisa K StampDepartment of Medicine, University of Otago; Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch.
John S AlchinPain Management Centre, Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Gary J HooperDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Otago; Canterbury District Health Board, Christchurch.
Dee ManginDepartment of General Practice, University of Otago, Christchurch.
Bronwyn F Lenox ThompsonDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch.
Les ToopDepartment of General Practice, University of Otago, Christchurch.
University of Otago · NZCanterbury District Health Board · NZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOsteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a common cause of chronic pain. Analgesics that are currently available have limited efficacy and may be poorly tolerated. Tricyclic antidepressants are used as analgesics for other chronic conditions, but they have not been evaluated as analgesics in OA.

aimTo investigate the analgesic efficacy of nortriptyline in people with knee OA. DESIGN AND

settingA two-arm, parallel-group, 1:1, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in Christchurch, New Zealand.

methodParticipants were recruited from orthopaedic outpatient clinics, primary care, and through public advertising. Adults with knee OA and a pain score of ≥20 points on the 50-point Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain subscale were randomised to receive either nortriptyline or identical placebo for 14 weeks. The primary outcome was knee pain at 14 weeks measured using the WOMAC pain subscale. Secondary outcomes included: function; stiffness; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, opioid, and/or paracetamol use; each participant's global assessment; and adverse effects at 14 weeks.

resultsOf the 205 randomised participants, 201 (98.0%) completed follow-up at 14 weeks. The baseline-adjusted mean WOMAC pain subscale score at week 14 was 6.2 points lower (95% confidence interval = -0.26 to 12.6,

conclusionThis study suggests nortriptyline does not significantly reduce pain in people with knee OA. The adverse effect profile was as expected.

Indexed as

General PracticeOsteoarthritis, KneeAdultDouble-Blind MethodHumansNew ZealandNortriptylinePainTreatment OutcomeNortriptylineanalgesiageneral practiceknee osteoarthritisrandomised controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID33571950
PMCPMC8177953
OpenAlexW3127745693

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.