The Clinical journal of pain
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Although the efficacy of interdisciplinary treatment for chronic noncancer pain has been well-established in the literature, there is limited research examining interdisciplinary programs that require opioid cessation. As the long-term use of opioid analgesics remains controversial, further investigation is warranted. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between opioid cessation and subsequent multidomain treatment outcomes among veterans admitted to a pain rehabilitation program at a large Veterans Affairs tertiary care hospital in the southeastern United States. ⋯ Results indicated that both groups experienced significant improvement on outcome measures, and that opioid analgesic use at admission had no discernible impact on treatment outcome in this large sample of veterans with moderate to severe chronic pain syndrome. The clinical implications of these findings for long-term chronic pain treatment, in light of the risks associated with opioid analgesics, are discussed.