Palmitoylethanolamide, a neutraceutical, in nerve compression syndromes: efficacy and safety in sciatic pain and carpal tunnel syndrome
ReviewHumans
- Design
- Review
- Subjects
- Eight clinical trials in sciatic pain and carpal tunnel syndrome, 1,366 patients in total, plus preclinical nerve-compression models
- Dose used in the study
- 300 to 1,200 mg PEA a day across the trials
- Duration
- 3 weeks to 2 months in the trials reviewed
- What was measured
- Narrative summary of pain scores, disability and adverse events; post hoc number needed to treat from the Guida 2010 data
What the authors reported
PEA reduced pain in each trial reviewed, including the 636-patient Guida trial (VAS 7.1 to 2.1 on 600 mg versus 6.6 to 4.6 on placebo), a 111-patient replication by Canteri, and several open-label carpal tunnel and sciatica studies. No drug interactions or troublesome side effects were reported.
Limits of this study
Narrative review, not systematic; no risk-of-bias assessment. Several included studies were conference abstracts or Italian-language reports. The authors run a neuropathic pain clinic that prescribes PEA. The NNT of 1.5 is their own post hoc calculation.
Source
PubMed 26604814 · doi:10.2147/JPR.S93106
Entry checked against the full text (open access PDF), supplied by Devlin on 2026-09-21. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.