Articles: opioid-analgesics.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2022
ReviewNew pharmacological perspectives and therapeutic options for opioids: Differences matter.
Opioids remain the major drug class for the treatment of acute, chronic and cancer pain, but have major harmful effects such as dependence and opioid-induced ventilatory impairment. Although no new typical opioids have come onto the market in the past almost 50 years, a plethora of new innovative formulations has been developed to meet the clinical need. This review is intended to shed light on new understanding of the molecular pharmacology of opioids, which has arisen largely due to the genomic revolution, and what new drugs may become available in the coming years. ⋯ That gene splice variants of the mu opioid receptor produce multiple receptor isoforms in different brain regions, and may change with pain chronicity and phenotype, presents new challenges but also opportunities for precision pain medicine. Finally, that opioids also have pro-inflammatory effects not aligned with mu opioid receptor binding affinity implicates a fresh understanding of their role in chronic pain, whether cancer or non-cancer. Hopefully, a new understanding of opioid analgesic drug action may lead to new drug development and better precision medicine in acute and chronic pain relief with less patient harm.
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Opioid-induced ventilatory impairment is the primary mechanism of harm from opioid use. Opioids suppress the activity of the central respiratory centres and are sedating, leading to impairment of alveolar ventilation. Respiratory physiological changes induced with acute opioid use include depression of the hypercapnic ventilatory response and hypoxic ventilatory response. ⋯ Obstructive sleep apnoea and opioid-induced ventilatory impairment are frequently associated, with this interrelationship being complex and often unpredictable. Monitoring the patient for opioid-induced ventilatory impairment poses challenges in the areas of reliability, avoidance of alarm fatigue, cost, and personnel demands. Many situations remain in which patients cannot be provided effective analgesia without opioids, and for these the clinician requires a comprehensive knowledge of opioid-induced ventilatory impairment.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Mar 2022
A Survey on Opioid Tapering Practices, Policies, and Perspectives by Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists.
Opioid tapering is an essential clinical tool to utilize for a variety of reasons, including safety and analgesic optimization. The need for individualized regimens reveals a corresponding need for healthcare providers who can actively manage patients throughout the process. Pharmacists have taken on an integral role for achieving success in opioid tapering. ⋯ The most common follow-up intervals during tapering were weekly (15%), every 2 weeks (22%), and every 4 weeks (44%). This practice-based survey, though small, showed that pharmacists in pain management and palliative care are actively involved in opioid tapering. This survey will hopefully serve as a foundation for continuing research into opioid tapering and the pharmacist's role therein.
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Prescription opioid use has risen steeply for over two decades, driven primarily by advocacy for better management of chronic non-cancer pain, but also by poor opioid stewardship in the management of acute pain. Inappropriate prescribing, among other things, contributed to the opioid 'epidemic' and striking increases in patient harm. It has also seen a greater proportion of opioid-tolerant patients presenting to acute care hospitals. ⋯ Better opioid stewardship with consideration of preoperative opioid weaning in some patients, assessment of patient function rather than relying on pain scores alone to assess adequacy of analgesia, prescription of immediate release opioids only and evidence-based use of analgesic adjuvants are important. Post-discharge opioid prescribing should be contingent on an assessment of patient risk, with short-term only use of opioids. In partnership with pharmacists, nursing staff, other medical specialists, general practitioners and patients, anaesthetists remain ideally positioned to be involved in opioid stewardship in the acute care setting.
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Procedural analgesia with opioids is often needed during incision and drainage (I/D) of pilonidal or large abscesses in the pediatric emergency department (PED). In response to the ongoing opioid misuse pandemic, the Joint Commission has mandated that nonpharmacologic therapies be offered to patients for pain first. ⋯ BFA for painful procedures in the PED has not been reported. We describe 4 cases where BFA was utilized in a PED for pain during I/D of abscesses.