Articles: opioid.
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The number of older jail inmates in poor health is increasing rapidly. Among older adults, pain is common and leads to greater acute care use. In jail, pain management is complicated by concerns about misuse and diversion. A lack of data about the prevalence and management of pain in older jail inmates limits our ability to develop optimal palliative care strategies for this population. ⋯ High rates of pain in a rapidly growing population of older jail inmates with multimorbidity and functional impairment suggest that jails are an important site for assessing symptom burden and developing appropriate palliative care interventions.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Dec 2014
Case ReportsAuditory symptoms as an unrecognized manifestation of opioid toxicity: two case reports.
Neuropsychiatric and gastrointestinal side effects of opioids are well documented, but self-reported hearing disturbance from opioids is often unrecognized. Two cases are presented illustrating a possible association between auditory symptoms and opioid toxicity. Possible mechanisms are discussed.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2014
Legal barriers in accessing opioid medicines: results of the ATOME quick scan of national legislation of eastern European countries.
Overregulation of controlled medicines is one of the factors contributing to limited access to opioid medicines. ⋯ The selected countries have in common as main barriers prescribing and dispensing restrictions, the use of stigmatizing language, and incorrect use of definitions. The practical impact of these barriers identified using a quick scan method needs to be validated by other means.
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A case of cervicobrachialgia is presented in which the patient expressed fear of becoming addicted to opioids. Alternative analgesic approaches including anticonvulsants, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), and physical therapy are discussed. ⋯ Paineurope is provided as a service to pain management by Mundipharma International, LTD and is distributed free of charge to healthcare professionals in Europe. Archival issues can be accessed via the website: http://www.paineurope.com at which European health professionals can register online to receive copies of the quarterly publication.
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Pain is the presenting symptom in 20 to 30% of patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and occurs in 50 to 60% of patients at some stage of the disease process, but its frequency increases with age and size of the cysts. Back pain is caused by kidney enlargement as well as rupture, hemorrhage, or infection of cysts. Other causes of pain include nephrolithiasis and urinary tract infections (UTIs). Analgesic options for patients with ADPKD include transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), spinal cord stimulation, low-dose opioids, and local anesthetics.