Effect of opioids on brain morphometrics in patients with chronic low back pain: a pilot MRI study

There is a critical need to understand the effect of opioid analgesics on the brain structures to develop more effective treatments for pain management. Here, we used a surface-based MRI analysis technique to assess grey matter volume and cortical and subcortical thickness to identify the morphological patterns of cortical alterations in patients with chronic low back pain on opioid (CBP+) compared to those not on opioid (CBP-) and healthy controls (HC). Whole-brain T1-weighted 3D SPGR sequences were collected on a 3T GE scanner in 13 CBP+ patients (8 males, mean age  ± SD = 50 ± 12.34), 13 age- and sex-matched CBP- patients and 13 HC according to a protocol approved by the Stanford School of Medicine IRB.
Source: The Journal of Pain - Category: Materials Science Authors: Source Type: research