Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Multicenter Study
Pain relief and tolerability balance of immediate release tapentadol or oxycodone treatment for patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis or low back pain.
Opioid treatment effectiveness may be best compared using definitions of treatment response, which combine measures assessing pain reduction and the occurrence of adverse events (AEs). This analysis of data from two phase III clinical trials was conducted to examine the pain relief and tolerability (PRT) balance of immediate release (IR) tapentadol and oxycodone in patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis (OA) or low back pain. ⋯ Pain reduction and tolerability are both important attributes of an effective analgesic treatment. Based on data from two trials, tapentadol IR produced an improved PRT balance compared with oxycodone IR.
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Long-term opioid use has increased substantially over the past decade for U.S. women. Women are more likely than men to have a chronic pain condition, to be treated with opioids, and may receive higher doses. Prescribing trends persist despite limited evidence to support the long-term benefit of this pain treatment approach. ⋯ Long-term opioid use exposes women to unique risks, including endocrinopathy, reduced fertility, neonatal risks, as well as greater risk for polypharmacy, cardiac risks, poisoning and unintentional overdose, among other risks. Risks for women appear to vary by age and psychosocial factors may be bidirectionally related to opioid use. Gaps in understanding and priorities for future research are highlighted.
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Clinical Trial
Palmitoylethanolamide in the treatment of chronic pain caused by different etiopathogenesis.
To assess the efficacy and safety of palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), an endogenous fatty acid amide belonging to the N-acylethanolamines family, in reducing pain severity in patients with pain associated to different pathological conditions. ⋯ In this study, PEA was effective and safe in the management of chronic pain in different pathological conditions.
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The objective of this study was to use administrative claims data to identify and analyze patient characteristics and behavior associated with diagnosed opioid abuse. ⋯ Using medical as well as drug claims data, it is feasible to develop models that could assist payers in identifying patients who exhibit characteristics associated with increased risk for opioid abuse. These models incorporate medical information beyond that available to prescription drug monitoring programs that are reliant on drug claims data and can be an important tool to identify potentially inappropriate opioid use.