Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Dec 2021
Acute Pain Management for Patients with Substance Use Disorder Receiving Buprenorphine or Methadone Compared to Patients without Opioid-Dependence Disorder.
This single-center retrospective study assessed pain management between patients being treated for SUD and compared them to those without SUD who underwent orthopedic surgery. Patients with SUD could be admitted for any reason, while the control arm consisted of patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty or hip arthroplasty surgery. Primary endpoints were average pains scores and morphine milligram equivalents (MME) over the first 48h. ⋯ Average pain scores between the groups were significantly different (7.46 vs. 5.94, p = 0.002). Patients with SUD were not given a statistically different amount of MME for acute pain and experienced higher pain scores than patients without SUD. However, this study had a small population size, and further case-control studies are needed to confirm this result.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Dec 2021
Primary Care Shared Medical Appointment for Pain Management: A Pilot Program.
Effective strategies that are evidence-based and non-addictive are needed to manage chronic pain and combat the opioid crisis. One potential strategy is to utilize a shared medical appointment (SMA), which is a model of providing clinical care in a group setting with multiple healthcare team members for comprehensive pain management. The purpose of this retrospective chart review is to evaluate the impact of a pain management SMA at the William S. ⋯ Quantitative and qualitative data was obtained from the electronic medical record of 16 Veterans who participated in the pain SMA and analyzed using descriptive statistics. In addition to a reduction in opioid doses six months post SMA, participants gained non-pharmacological referrals, addition of non-opioid pain medications, and a mix of didactic and experiential education on pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment modalities to help manage their chronic pain. This SMA allowed for greater access to healthcare professionals with a sole focus on pain management and provided Veterans with a holistic approach to their pain management.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Dec 2021
ReviewPain Management Strategies in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Narrative Review.
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation and progressive deterioration of the joints, which generates pain and stiffness. The origin of this pain is multifactorial, with inflammation, secondary osteoarthritis, as well as central and peripheral sensitization playing important roles in the development. Up to 90.4% of RA patients visit a health professional for severe pain, and despite new therapies and sophisticated treatments, there are a limited number of options for analgesic management. ⋯ DMARDs are the mainstay of RA treatment, although many patients continue to experience pain despite optimal management. Medications such as glucocorticoids, NSAIDs, topical capsaicin, and weak opioids are key elements when achieving analgesia in RA. Other pharmacological groups such as neuromodulators, antidepressants, muscle relaxants and cannabinoids currently do not have enough evidence to be recommended.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Dec 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialImpact of Standardized Educational Intervention on Improvement in Analgesic Knowledge and Its Compliance among Patients of Advanced Cancer Patients Attending Palliative Clinic: Prospective Randomized Study.
Patient education is a low-cost intervention that can help in improving the knowledge and compliance regarding analgesics. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the standardized educational intervention on knowledge regarding analgesic, its compliance, and barriers to compliance among advanced cancer patients attending palliative care clinic. In this randomized control trial, 100 advanced cancer patients with pain were randomly allocated to two groups. ⋯ There was also a statistically significant decrease in barriers to compliance in the experimental group as compared to the control group. A significant correlation between the knowledge and compliance score at 4 weeks in the experimental group was found with a Karl Pearson correlation coefficient, r = 0.628 (p = 0.001). The standardized educational intervention was found to be effective in improving the analgesic knowledge and analgesic compliance among cancer patients with pain at 2 and 4 weeks follow up as compared to the usual care.
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Pharmacotherapy is essential in palliative medicine. Besides potential benefits, pharmacotherapy also poses potential risks that need to be minimized for patient safety. Pharmacists can play an important role in identifying, solving, and avoiding drug-related problems (DRPs). ⋯ Clinically relevant DRPs are common in palliative medicine. The systematic assessment can support therapy decisions. This can result in optimized drug therapy, subsequently having a positive effect on symptom control and quality of life.