Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Sleep-disordered breathing and chronic opioid therapy.
To assess the relation between medications prescribed for chronic pain and sleep apnea. ⋯ Sleep-disordered breathing was common in chronic pain patients on opioids. The dose-response relation of sleep apnea to methadone and benzodiazepines calls for increased vigilance.
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This is a structured evidence-based review of all available studies on the development of abuse/addiction and aberrant drug-related behaviors (ADRBs) in chronic pain patients (CPPs) with nonmalignant pain on exposure to chronic opioid analgesic therapy (COAT). ⋯ The results of this evidence-based structured review indicate that COAT exposure will lead to abuse/addiction in a small percentage of CPPs, but a larger percentage will demonstrate ADRBs and illicit drug use. These percentages appear to be much less if CPPs are preselected for the absence of a current or past history of alcohol/illicit drug use or abuse/addiction.