Study: Opioids Aren’t the Cheat Code for Most Short-Term Pain

Researchers found that opioids offer only limited pain relief for some pain conditions, such as dental surgery and traumatic limb pain. But they were not better than a placebo for things like kidney stone pain.

The findings were published in the journal Drugs.

Opioids vs. Placebos

Researchers at the University of Sydney studied the efficacy and risks of opioid pain relievers, morphine, codeine, oxycodone, and tramadol compared with a placebo for acute pain.

“Overall, oral...