Utilization of Magnesium for the Treatment of Chronic Pain

Ivan Urits; Jai Won Jung; Ariunzaya Amgalan; Luc Fortier; Anthony Anya; Brendan Wesp; Vwaire Orhurhu; Elyse M Cornett; Alan D Kaye; Farnad Imani; Giustino Varrassi; Henry Liu; Omar Viswanath

doi:10.5812/aapm.112348

Utilization of Magnesium for the Treatment of Chronic Pain

Anesth Pain Med. 2021 Feb 6;11(1):e112348. doi: 10.5812/aapm.112348. eCollection 2021 Feb.

Authors

Ivan Urits^{1

2}, Jai Won Jung³, Ariunzaya Amgalan³, Luc Fortier³, Anthony Anya³, Brendan Wesp³, Vwaire Orhurhu⁴, Elyse M Cornett¹, Alan D Kaye¹, Farnad Imani⁵, Giustino Varrassi⁶, Henry Liu⁷, Omar Viswanath^{1

8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ LSU Health Shreveport, Department of Anesthesiology, Shreveport, LA, USA.
² Southcoast Health, Southcoast Physicians Group Pain Medicine, Wareham, MA, USA.
³ Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA.
⁴ University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Williamsport, PA, USA.
⁵ Pain Research Center, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ Paolo Procacci Foundation, Via Tacito 7, Roma, Italy.
⁷ Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Penn State University College of Medicine 500 University Drive Mail Code H187 Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
⁸ Creighton University School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Omaha, NE, USA.
⁹ Valley Anesthesiology and Pain Consultants - Envision Physician Services, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
¹⁰ University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USA.

Abstract

Context: The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines chronic pain as pain that persists or recurs for longer than 3 months. Chronic pain has a significant global disease burden with profound effects on health, quality of life, and socioeconomic costs.

Evidence acquisition: Narrative review.

Results: There are several treatment options, including pharmacological therapy, physical rehabilitation, psychological therapies, and surgical interventions, for chronic pain management. Magnesium has been FDA-approved for several indications including hypomagnesemia, arrhythmia, prevention of seizures in eclampsia/preeclampsia, and constipation. Magnesium has been used for numerous off-label uses, notably for acute and chronic pain management. The mechanism of magnesium in pain management is primarily through its action as a voltage-gated antagonist of NMDA receptors, which are involved in pain transduction.

Conclusions: This narrative review will focus on the current evidence and data surrounding the utilization of magnesium as a treatment option for chronic pain.

Keywords: Abdominal Pain; Chronic Pain; Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome; Infusion; Intravenous; Magnesium Sulfate; Peripheral Neuropathy.

Publication types

Review