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Opioid

Opioids for Back Pain

Phase 2
Recruiting
Led By Apkar V Apkarian, PhD
Research Sponsored by Northwestern University
Eligibility Criteria Checklist
Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial
Must have
Be older than 18 years old
Timeline
Screening 3 weeks
Treatment Varies
Follow Up 3 weeks
Awards & highlights
No Placebo-Only Group

Summary

This trial is designed to see how different treatments affect brain function in people with chronic back pain who are using or misusing opioids.

Eligible Conditions
  • Chronic Pain
  • Addiction
  • Back Pain
  • Chronic Low Back Pain
  • Back Injury
  • Opioid Use Disorder
  • Drug Abuse
  • Chronic Lower Back Pain

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks
Treatment ~ Varies
Follow Up ~3 weeks
This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and 3 weeks for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.
Primary study objectives
Differences across drugs in Withdrawal relief assessed by Pain and Craving Index (PCI).
Differences across drugs in pain changes as assessed by Numeric Rating Scale (0-10).
Secondary study objectives
Differences in pain changes (NRS) across High and Low Misuse groups measured by the Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM).
Differences in withdrawal changes (PCI) across High and Low Misuse groups measured by the Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM).

Side effects data

From 2019 Phase 4 trial • 1561 Patients • NCT03472469
5%
Death
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Study treatment Arm
MAST MMPR - Escalating Dose Arm
Original MMPR - Descending Dose Arm

Awards & Highlights

No Placebo-Only Group
All patients enrolled in this study will receive some form of active treatment.

Trial Design

2Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Group I: Chronic Back Pain with Opioid UseExperimental Treatment3 Interventions
Subjects of this arms will be on a previously prescribed, short term acting opioid. Previous to each of the three imaging visits, subjects will be instructed to withhold from taking their regular morning opioid dose. Subjects will be randomized into a group that determines the sequence of which they will receive the study drugs. The three sequences are as follows: 1. treatment dose #1: 25mg carbidopa/ 100mg levodopa + 500mg naproxen, treatment dose #2: subjects prescribed, short acting opioid; 2. treatment dose #1: placebo, treatment dose #2: subjects prescribed, short acting opioid; or 3. treatment #1: subjects prescribed, short acting opioid, treatment dose #2: placebo.
Group II: Chronic Back Pain with Opioid Misuse DisorderExperimental Treatment3 Interventions
Subjects of this arms will be on a previously prescribed, short term acting opioid. Previous to each of the three imaging visits, subjects will be instructed to withhold from taking their regular morning opioid dose. Subjects will be randomized into a group that determines the sequence of which they will receive the study drugs. The three sequences are as follows: 1. treatment dose #1: 25mg carbidopa/ 100mg levodopa + 500mg naproxen, treatment dose #2: subjects prescribed, short acting opioid; 2. treatment dose #1: placebo, treatment dose #2: subjects prescribed, short acting opioid; or 3. treatment #1: subjects prescribed, short acting opioid, treatment dose #2: placebo.
Treatment
First Studied
Drug Approval Stage
How many patients have taken this drug
Naproxen 500 Mg
2018
Completed Phase 4
~200
Opioids
2018
Completed Phase 4
~1950

Find a Location

Who is running the clinical trial?

Northwestern UniversityLead Sponsor
1,647 Previous Clinical Trials
958,489 Total Patients Enrolled
11 Trials studying Back Pain
1,208 Patients Enrolled for Back Pain
Shirley Ryan AbilityLabOTHER
208 Previous Clinical Trials
17,945 Total Patients Enrolled
3 Trials studying Back Pain
121 Patients Enrolled for Back Pain
National Institutes of Health (NIH)NIH
2,818 Previous Clinical Trials
8,161,615 Total Patients Enrolled
14 Trials studying Back Pain
252,174 Patients Enrolled for Back Pain
~16 spots leftby Dec 2025