Adjunctive therapy for acute musculoskeletal pain

Abstract

Acute musculoskeletal pain (MSP) is one of the leading complaints at patients' admission. Acute MSP is usually localized in the lower back, neck, shoulder girdles, and shins. With an increase in the number of obese and hypodynamic people, the prevalence of MSP increases, especially lower back pain. Treatment of acute MSP in the back consists of informing the patient about a favorable prognosis of the disease, recommendations to maintain daily activity, primary and additional pharmacotherapy. Primary or main pharmacotherapy of acute MSP in the back includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Adjunctive therapy is usually used in combination with NSAIDs and is aimed to increase the effectiveness of treatment and reduce the duration of NSAIDs use. As an additional therapy, muscle relaxants or B vitamins can be prescribed. The efficacy and safety of combination therapy of NSAIDs and high-dose complexes of B vitamins have been demonstrated in clinical trials involving patients with acute back pain.