Authors
Gianluca Castelnuovo, Emanuele Maria Giusti, Gian Mauro Manzoni, Donatella Saviola, Samantha Gabrielli, Marco Lacerenza, Giada Pietrabissa, Roberto Cattivelli, Chiara Anna Maria Spatola, Alessandro Rossi, Giorgia Varallo, Margherita Novelli, Valentina Villa, Francesca Luzzati, Andrea Cottini, Carlo Lai, Eleonora Volpato, Cesare Cavalera, Francesco Pagnini, Valentina Tesio, Lorys Castelli, Mario Tavola, Riccardo Torta, Marco Arreghini, Loredana Zanini, Amelia Brunani, Ionathan Seitanidis, Giuseppe Ventura, Paolo Capodaglio, Guido Edoardo D’Aniello, Federica Scarpina, Andrea Brioschi, Matteo Bigoni, Lorenzo Priano, Alessandro Mauro, Giuseppe Riva, Daniele Di Lernia, Claudia Repetto, Camillo Regalia, Enrico Molinari, Paolo Notaro, Stefano Paolucci, Giorgio Sandrini, Susan Simpson, Brenda Kay Wiederhold, Santino Gaudio, Jeffrey B Jackson, Stefano Tamburin, Fabrizio Benedetti
Publication date
2018/5/18
Source
Frontiers in neurology
Volume
9
Pages
310
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Description
Background
It is increasingly acknowledged that the outcomes of medical treatments are influenced by the context of the clinical encounter through the mechanisms of the placebo effect. The phenomenon of placebo analgesia might be exploited to maximize the efficacy of neurorehabilitation treatments. Since its intensity varies across neurological disorders, the Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation (ICCP) summarized the studies on this field to provide guidance on its use.
Methods
A review of the existing reviews and meta-analyses was performed to assess the magnitude of the placebo effect in disorders that may undergo neurorehabilitation treatment. The search was performed on Pubmed using placebo, pain, and the names of neurological disorders as keywords. Methodological quality was assessed using a pre-existing checklist. Data about the magnitude of the placebo effect were extracted from the included reviews and were commented in a narrative form.
Results
11 articles were included in this review. Placebo treatments showed weak effects in central neuropathic pain (pain reduction from 0.44 to 0.66 on a 0–10 scale) and moderate effects in postherpetic neuralgia (1.16), in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (1.45), and in pain associated to HIV (1.82). Moderate effects were also found on pain due to fibromyalgia and migraine; only weak short-term effects were found in complex regional pain syndrome. Confounding variables might have influenced these results.
Clinical implications
These estimates should be interpreted with caution, but underscore that the placebo effect can be exploited in …
Scholar articles
G Castelnuovo, EM Giusti, GM Manzoni, D Saviola… - Frontiers in neurology, 2018