Articles: opioid-analgesics.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Balanced Opioid-free Anesthesia with Dexmedetomidine versus Balanced Anesthesia with Remifentanil for Major or Intermediate Noncardiac Surgery.
It is speculated that opioid-free anesthesia may provide adequate pain control while reducing postoperative opioid consumption. However, there is currently no evidence to support the speculation. The authors hypothesized that opioid-free balanced anesthetic with dexmedetomidine reduces postoperative opioid-related adverse events compared with balanced anesthetic with remifentanil. ⋯ This trial refuted the hypothesis that balanced opioid-free anesthesia with dexmedetomidine, compared with remifentanil, would result in fewer postoperative opioid-related adverse events. Conversely, it did result in a greater incidence of serious adverse events, especially hypoxemia and bradycardia.
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Opioids form an important component of general anesthesia and perioperative analgesia. Discharge opioid prescriptions are identified as a contributor for persistent opioid use and diversion. ⋯ The data indicate that opioid-free strategies, however noble in their cause, do not fully acknowledge the limitations and gaps within the existing evidence and clinical practice considerations. Moreover, they do not allow analgesic titration based on patient needs; are unclear about optimal components and their role in different surgical settings and perioperative phases; and do not serve to decrease the risk of persistent opioid use, thereby distracting us from optimizing pain and minimizing realistic long-term harms.
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In this study of 154 community-dwelling older adults with chronic noncancer pain, we sought to assess participants' beliefs about pain as well as pain management treatments and to determine the influence of those beliefs on participants' willingness to undertake 3 physician-recommended pain treatments, that is, a pharmacologic, physical, and psychological therapy. ⋯ These results support the notion that patients' beliefs about pain and pain treatments can have important effects on treatment engagement and, if assessed, can help guide clinical management of chronic pain in older adults.
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It is unknown which procedures account for the most US dental opioid prescriptions. Moreover, few national studies have assessed opioid prescribing patterns for these procedures. These knowledge gaps impede the optimal targeting of dental opioid stewardship initiatives. ⋯ Eliminating routine opioid prescribing for tooth extraction could reduce dental opioid exposure substantially.