Table 3. Recommendations for the oral drug treatment of nonspecific low back pain, with evidence-based doses^*1.

Drug recommendation	Dosage	Recommendation*2	Recommendation grade
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Ibuprofen Diclofenac Naproxen	1.2 g/d, at most 2.4 g 100 mg/d, at most 150 mg 750 mg/d, at most 1.25 g	Positive (“should”) (“should”) (“should”)	B B B
COX-2 inhibitors (off-label use for acute low back pain)	Celecoxib 200 mg/d Etoricoxib 60–90 mg/d	Open (“can”)	0
Paracetamol (acetaminophen)	500–1000 mg/d, at most 3 g	Open (“can”)	0
Low-potency opioids Tramadol Tilidin N	Depending on the preparation 50–100 mg 50–100 mg	Open (“can”)	0

^*1modified from (6)

^*2The recommendations and grades listed here (positive [“should”] and open [“can”]) are derived from the German National Disease Management Guideline for Low Back Pain (6),which employs the evidence classification of the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM) at the University of Oxford.