The original authors of this review are unable to update it and this review has now been withdrawn. The Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Review Group (PaPaS) is seeking new authors for the update. If you are interested, please contact the Managing Editor of PaPaS (contact details provided under 'Contact Person').

We are aware that this is a priority topic for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and encourage new author teams to get in touch. A future approach for updating this review may mean splitting the review per individual beta‐blocker.

The editorial group responsible for this previously published document have withdrawn it from publication.