Articles: opioid.
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The CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, published last March, provided major steps toward bringing the medical community together to address the opioid epidemic in the U. S. However, the Guideline focuses primarily on treatment of new inductions into opioid therapy for pain. ⋯ Patients already maintained on opioids for chronic pain should not be subjected to abrupt cessation or rapid tapers, and the CDC's Guideline confirms this. Physicians should not balk from treating opioid-dependent patients with chronic pain, and the CDC's recommendations do contain helpful information if one reads through them carefully. This article attempts to distill the major points from the Guideline for the treatment of chronic-pain patients already on long-term opioid therapy.[Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-10.asp].
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2017
Opioid prescribing among cancer and non-cancer patients: Time trend analysis in the elderly using administrative data.
In 2007, Cancer Care Ontario introduced a provincial symptom screening program, which included pain, for cancer patients. Over this same time, opioid prescribing has been increasingly scrutinized among non-cancer patients. The study purpose was to see if opioid prescribing changed among older adults after 2007 in the context of changing opioid regulations, and whether effects were different among patients with a cancer history. ⋯ Overall prescribing rates for cancer patients aged ≥65 years remain unchanged over time, in spite of the introduction of a provincial symptom screening program. Decreasing prescription rates in some drug sub-classes were observed. The potential impact of these changes on the quality of symptom control for cancer patients needs further investigation.
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The anti-inflammatory effects of statins have been suggested to relieve postoperative pain. This retrospective study tested the association between the perioperative routine use of statins in therapeutic doses, and opioid requirements and pain scores, after hip replacement surgery. ⋯ This is the first large retrospective clinical study that investigates the effects of statin use on postoperative pain and opioid consumption. We observed no difference between statin users and non-users during the initial 72 h after hip surgery. Our findings do not support the routine use of statins as part of an analgesic regimen.
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This study aimed to describe utilization of opioid medications among infants, children, and adolescents on the inpatient setting. These data are needed to guide clinical trials and improve research methodologies, as well as to inform more about possible sources of opioid misuse in the United States. A retrospective chart review was conducted covering a span of 1 year, with a special focus on the prescription of opioids for long-term treatment of chronic pain. ⋯ Among those who were prescribed opioids for >14 days, the focus was often for reasons other than pain. These data indicate that models of chronic pain that may be utilized in clinical trials of longer-term opioid usage in pediatrics are exceedingly limited. In addition, the patterns of utilization indicate that opioid administration among pediatric inpatients is not a likely contributory factor to concerns about opioid misuse in the United States.
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To formulate timely evidence-based guidelines for the management of opioid-induced bowel dysfunction. ⋯ In recent years, more insight has been gained in the pathophysiology of this "entity"; new treatment approaches have been developed, but guidelines on clinical best practice are still lacking. Current knowledge is insufficient regarding management of the opioid side effects on the upper gastrointestinal tract, but recommendations can be derived from what we know at present.