Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy
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The ASHP Midyear Clinical meeting continues to be the largest pharmacy meeting in the world. A broad range of topics was presented at hundreds of symposia and posters at the 2001 meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, in December. Pain management, hospice care, evidence based medicine, safe medication practices and improved drug information services were among the many practice areas addressed and recognized at the meeting.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
Extemporaneous compounding: a return to regulatory limbo?
Extemporaneous compounding of medications has been an integral component of the practice of pharmacy and medicine since the practices began. A staple of early medical and pharmacy practice, even today many patients benefit from compounding at some point in their care. ⋯ With a recent decision by the US Supreme Court, compounding regulation is again uncertain. This commentary reviews compounding practice, the history of compounding regulation, and discusses the current regulatory status of the practice.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
Analgesic issues in palliative care, furthering our understanding of pain, the stability and cost of opioid infusion therapy, and opioid effectiveness doses in nociceptive and neuropathic pain.
Literature relating to analgesic issues, pain mechanisms and management, costs of opioid infusions, and the opioids dosing for nociceptive and neuropathic pain are reviewed in the context of palliative care.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jan 2002
Pain and palliative care in Issue Number 3, 2001 of The Cochrane Library.
A brief description of how an individual can access The Cochrane Library and navigate within it is provided. The National Library of Medicine medical subject heading (MeSH) terminology is described. Selected new reviews from a recent edition of The Cochrane Library are listed in an annotated bibliography together with a description of the current volume of material now available on the library.
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Morphine, the most widely used mu-opioid analgesic for acute and chronic pain, is the standard against which new analgesics are measured. A thorough understanding of the pharmacokinetics of morphine is required in order to safely and effectively use this analgesic in a wide variety of patients with different levels of organ function. ⋯ These publications were reviewed and the literature summarized regarding unique and clinically important elements of morphine disposition relative to its parenteral administration (including intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous, epidural and intrathecal administration), absorption profile (immediate release, controlled release, and sublingual/buccal, and rectal administration), distribution, and its metabolism/excretion. Special populations, including infants, elderly, and those with renal/liver failure, have a unique morphine pharmacokinetic profile that must be taken into account in order to maximize analgesic efficacy and reduce the risk of adverse events.