CONCLUSIONS
This review highlights the potential for carisoprodol
abuse; these findings are significant and, if in error,
are likely an underestimate of carisoprodol abuse
potential. The results from this review suggest that
compared with long-term users of other SMRs,
carisoprodol-treated patients utilized concomitant opioids
more frequently and concomitant NSAIDs less
frequently, more commonly had past diagnoses indicating
other drug dependence or abuse, and continued
to pay out of pocket for carisoprodol when thirdparty
coverage was discontinued. While none of these
issues alone may be direct indicators of abuse, collectively
they suggest that patients who used carisoprodol
long term displayed abuse potential characteristics
more frequently than long-term users of other
agents.