Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy
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On March 22, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced enhanced warnings for immediate-release opioid pain medications related to risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose, and death. The new safety warnings also added to all prescription opioid medications to inform prescribers and patients of additional risks related to opioid use.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jun 2016
Intercostal Nerve Block and Neurolysis for Intractable Cancer Pain.
Management of intractable cancer-associated chest wall pain is difficult once patients have reached dose-limiting side effects of opioids and coanalgesic medications. This case series describes 11 patients with intractable cancer-associated chest wall pain who were treated with a diagnostic intercostal nerve block. Six patients subsequently received chemical neurolysis with phenol using the same approach. ⋯ Four of six patients experienced pain relief from the neurolytic blockade. The principal reportable finding from this case series is the observation that contrast dye spread liberally from the intercostal space into other anatomic spaces, even though very small volumes of injectate (less than 5 mL) were used. Definitive evidence of safety and efficacy of intercostal nerve block and neurolysis for cancer pain will require a prospective randomized clinical trial.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jun 2016
Practice GuidelineGuideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.
Improving the way opioids are prescribed through clinical practice guidelines can ensure patients have access to safer, more effective chronic pain treatment while reducing the number of people who misuse, abuse, or overdose from these drugs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed and published the Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain to provide recommendations for the prescribing of opioid pain medication for patients 18 and older in primary care settings. Recommendations focus on the use of opioids in treating chronic pain (pain lasting longer than 3 months or past the time of normal tissue healing) outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care.