"The question People treated in the emergency room for a sprain strain or fracture are generally given opioids to help them cope with the pain often leaving with a prescription for opioids too. Might nonopioid painkillers work just as well as these addictive drugs This study The study involved  adults average age  who had gone to an emergency department with an extremity injury causing moderate to severe pain averaging . on a scale of  to .  For pain they were randomly assigned to take acetaminophen along with a nonopioid  ibuprofen  or with one of three commonly prescribed opioids oxycodone hydrocodone or codeine.  Within two hours all participants reported essentially identical declines in pain about four points on the scale. Even for people who initially had rated their pain as a  for the worst pain possible or had broken a bone there was virtually no difference in pain reduction between those who had and had not taken an opioid. Who may be affected Adults with arm or leg pain caused by a sprain strain or fracture. Research has shown that even shortterm opioid use such as that stemming from an initial prescription for pain from an injury or surgery can make people predisposed to a dependence on the powerful drugs  partly from their effectiveness at relieving pain and partly from the euphoria they produce. Abuse of opioids has become an epidemic in the United States with opioids now causing  percent of drug overdose deaths. Caveats Data on pain came from the participants ratings no information on side effects was collected. The study did not assess longerterm pain reduction. Find this study Nov.  issue of JAMA jama.com httpsurldefense.proofpoint.comvurluhttpsA__jamanetwork.com_journals_jama_fullarticle_dDwQCaQcRAhzPLrCAqeJdrcQiUVEwFYoMRqGDAXQ_puwtYjgrGgivkKNHTVnLjjXizEdTOTAeiQkcgtAvxxZaomBJtwwNDpLLirPUavisiAyNhqVMbIqzsRADsAVgocaGTGmJktuzoWZADscd_AMUSoUqSkDoIe click on Issues Learn more Information on opioids can be found at drugabuse.gov httpsdrugabuse.gov click Drugs of Abuse then Opioids and at familydoctor.org httpsfamilydoctor.org search for opioid addiction. The research described in Quick Study comes from credible peerreviewed journals."