Articles: opioid.
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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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Misuse of prescription opioids forced an inevitable response from authorities to intervene with consequences felt by all. In the Australian community one person will die for approximately every 3600 adults prescribed opioids, while in the hospital setting a postoperative patient managed primarily with opioids, as opposed to epidural analgesia, has an additional risk of death as high as between one in 56 to 477. Opioids maintain a valid role in acute pain management when use is reasoned and with full awareness of the harms and how they are to be avoided, such as in those at risk of ongoing use, the opioid naïve, and when opioid-induced ventilatory impairment may occur. Clinicians managing acute pain can focus on assessing pain versus nociception, strategically apply antinociceptive medications and neural blockade when indicated, assess pain with an emphasis on the degree of bothersomeness and functional impairment and, finally, optimise the use of framing and placebo-enhancing communication to minimise reliance on medications.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2022
Association Between Changes in Postoperative Opioid Utilization and Long-Term Health Care Spending Among Surgical Patients With Chronic Opioid Utilization.
There is growing interest in identifying and developing interventions aimed at reducing the risk of increased, long-term opioid use among surgical patients. While understanding how these interventions impact health care spending has important policy implications and may facilitate the widespread adoption of these interventions, the extent to which they may impact health care spending among surgical patients who utilize opioids chronically is unknown. ⋯ Among patients with chronic opioid utilization before surgery, subsequent increases in opioid utilization during the first postoperative year were associated with increased health care spending during that timeframe, while subsequent decreases in opioid utilization were associated with decreased health care spending.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2022
The Perioperative Use of Benzodiazepines for Major Orthopedic Surgery in the United States.
Despite numerous indications for perioperative benzodiazepine use, associated risks may be exacerbated in elderly and comorbid patients. In the absence of national utilization data, we aimed to describe utilization patterns using national claims data from total hip/knee arthroplasty patients (THA/TKA), an increasingly older and vulnerable surgical population. ⋯ Based on a representative sample, 4 of 5 patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery in the United States receive benzodiazepines perioperatively, despite concerns for delirium and delayed postoperative neurocognitive recovery. Notably, benzodiazepine utilization was coupled with substantially increased opioid use, which may project implications for perioperative pain management.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2022
Case ReportsCaudal catheter placement for repeated epidural morphine doses after neonatal upper abdominal surgery.
Effective pain control after major surgery in neonates presents many challenges. Parenteral opioids (and co-analgesics) are often used but inadequate analgesia and oversedation are not uncommon. Although continuous thoracic epidural analgesia is highly effective and opioid-sparing, its associated risks and the need for staff with specialised skills and/or neonatal intensive care unit staff buy-in may preclude this option even in many academic centres. We present the case of a six-day-old infant who underwent upper abdominal surgery and received intermittent morphine doses via a tunnelled caudal epidural catheter, which provided satisfactory analgesia and facilitated early extubation.