Benefits of antidepressants in the treatment of fibromyalgia

Abstract

Objective: Perform a critical analysis about the benefits of using antidepressants in the treatment of fibromyalgia. Methods: This is an integrative literature review, using a qualitative and quantitative comparative approach. The selection of articles took place through the databases: PubMed and Cochrane library, using the descriptors patients AND fibromyalgia OR fibromyositis fibromyalgia syndrome AND antidepressant agents OR antidepressant drugs AND therapeutics OR treatment AND efficacy, and, subsequently, were added to the Rayyan bibliographic reference manager for evaluation of inclusion, exclusion and extraction of the most relevant data from the articles. Results: Among the articles evaluated, the majority revealed the effectiveness of antidepressants, both individually and combined, in reducing pain in fibromyalgia; the minority concluded that there were no significant differences in the comparison of pain indices at the beginning and at the end of the study. In short, the studies explained the indications of the Brazilian Society of Rheumatology for the treatment of pain in fibromyalgia. Final considerations: It is inferred that the use of antidepressants offers benefits in the treatment of fibromyalgia and that their use individually outweighs possible side effects. However, the need for studies evaluating the long-term effectiveness of antidepressants for fibromyalgia was observed.