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Opioids for back pain are linked to increased risk of erectile dysfunction

BMJ 2013; 346 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f3223 (Published 17 May 2013) Cite this as: BMJ 2013;346:f3223
  1. Sophie Ramsey
  1. 1BMJ

Men who take opioid analgesics for back pain over a long period may have an increased risk of erectile dysfunction, a study has found.1Long term opioid use has already been linked with hypogonadism.

To explore the relation between the use of drugs for erectile dysfunction or testosterone replacement and opioid use, researchers looked 11 327 men diagnosed with back pain on at least one visit in 2004. Their mean age was 49 years. The researchers …

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