Background: The mainstay of treatment for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain is pharmacotherapy,
but the current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline is not based on robust
evidence, as the treatments and their combinations have not been directly compared.
Objectives: To determine the most clinically beneficial, cost-effective and tolerated treatment pathway
for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain.
Design: A randomised crossover trial with health economic analysis.
Setting: Twenty-one secondary care centres in the UK.
Participants: Adults with diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain with a 7-day average self-rated pain
score of ≥ 4 points (Numeric Rating Scale 0–10).
Interventions: Participants were randomised to three commonly used treatment pathways: (1) amitriptyline
supplemented with pregabalin, (2) duloxetine supplemented with pregabalin and (3) pregabalin supplemented
with amitriptyline. Participants and research teams were blinded to treatment allocation, using overencapsulated capsules and matching placebos. Site pharmacists were unblinded.
Outcomes: The primary outcome was the difference in 7-day average 24-hour Numeric Rating Scale
score between pathways, measured during the final week of each pathway. Secondary end points
included 7-day average daily Numeric Rating Scale pain score at week 6 between monotherapies,
quality of life (Short Form questionnaire-36 items), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score,
the proportion of patients achieving 30% and 50% pain reduction, Brief Pain Inventory – Modified
Short Form items scores, Insomnia Severity Index score, Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory score,
tolerability (scale 0–10), Patient Global Impression of Change score at week 16 and patients’ preferred
treatment pathway at week 50. Adverse events and serious adverse events were recorded. A withintrial cost–utility analysis was carried out to compare treatment pathways using incremental costs per
quality-adjusted life-years from an NHS and social care perspective.
Results: A total of 140 participants were randomised from 13 UK centres, 130 of whom were included
in the analyses. Pain score at week 16 was similar between the arms, with a mean difference of
–0.1 points (98.3% confidence interval –0.5 to 0.3 points) for duloxetine supplemented with pregabalin
compared with amitriptyline supplemented with pregabalin, a mean difference of –0.1 points (98.3%
confidence interval –0.5 to 0.3 points) for pregabalin supplemented with amitriptyline compared with
amitriptyline supplemented with pregabalin and a mean difference of 0.0 points (98.3% confidence
interval –0.4 to 0.4 points) for pregabalin supplemented with amitriptyline compared with duloxetine
supplemented with pregabalin. Results for tolerability, discontinuation and quality of life were similar.
The adverse events were predictable for each drug. Combination therapy (weeks 6–16) was associated
with a further reduction in Numeric Rating Scale pain score (mean 1.0 points, 98.3% confidence
interval 0.6 to 1.3 points) compared with those who remained on monotherapy (mean 0.2 points,
98.3% confidence interval –0.1 to 0.5 points). The pregabalin supplemented with amitriptyline pathway
had the fewest monotherapy discontinuations due to treatment-emergent adverse events and was
most commonly preferred (most commonly preferred by participants: amitriptyline supplemented
with pregabalin, 24%; duloxetine supplemented with pregabalin, 33%; pregabalin supplemented with
amitriptyline, 43%; p = 0.26). No single pathway was superior in cost-effectiveness. The incremental
gains in quality-adjusted life-years were small for each pathway comparison [amitriptyline supplemented
with pregabalin compared with duloxetine supplemented with pregabalin –0.002 (95% confidence interval
–0.011 to 0.007) quality-adjusted life-years, amitriptyline supplemented with pregabalin compared with
pregabalin supplemented with amitriptyline –0.006 (95% confidence interval –0.002 to 0.014) qualityadjusted life-years and duloxetine supplemented with pregabalin compared with pregabalin supplemented
with amitriptyline 0.007 (95% confidence interval 0.0002 to 0.015) quality-adjusted life-years] and
incremental costs over 16 weeks were similar [amitriptyline supplemented with pregabalin compared
with duloxetine supplemented with pregabalin −£113 (95% confidence interval −£381 to £90),
ABSTRACT
NIHR Journals Library www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk
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amitriptyline supplemented with pregabalin compared with pregabalin supplemented with amitriptyline
£155 (95% confidence interval −£37 to £625) and duloxetine supplemented with pregabalin compared
with pregabalin supplemented with amitriptyline £141 (95% confidence interval −£13 to £398)].
Limitations: Although there was no placebo arm, there is strong evidence for the use of each study
medication from randomised placebo-controlled trials. The addition of a placebo arm would have increased
the duration of this already long and demanding trial and it was not felt to be ethically justifiable.
Future work: Future research should explore (1) variations in diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain
management at the practice level, (2) how OPTION-DM (Optimal Pathway for TreatIng neurOpathic
paiN in Diabetes Mellitus) trial findings can be best implemented, (3) why some patients respond to a
particular drug and others do not and (4) what options there are for further treatments for those
patients on combination treatment with inadequate pain relief.
Conclusions: The three treatment pathways appear to give comparable patient outcomes at similar costs,
suggesting that the optimal treatment may depend on patients’ preference in terms of side effects.
Trial registration: The trial is registered as ISRCTN17545443 and EudraCT 2016-003146-89.
Funding: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
Health Technology Assessment programme, and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment;
Vol. 26, No. 39. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.
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