Articles: pain-management.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Sep 2024
ReviewAlcohol use disorder in the perioperative period: a summary and recommendations for anesthesiologists and pain physicians.
Excessive alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD) increase the risk of perioperative morbidity and mortality. Aspiration, malnutrition, coagulopathies, seizures, and hemodynamic alterations are only a few of the major concerns related to acute alcohol intoxication and AUD. There are also numerous physiological effects, changes in medication metabolism and pharmacology, and adverse events related to chronic alcohol consumption. ⋯ Patients on naltrexone who continue or stop this medication in the perioperative period are at an increased risk for undertreated pain or substance use relapse. This review highlights key considerations for the anesthesiologist and pain physician in the perioperative management of patients with active AUD (or those in recovery). It discusses the effects of acute and chronic alcohol use on pain perception and thresholds, provides guidance on the perioperative management of naltrexone and low-dose naltrexone, and reviews a multimodal approach to pain management.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Sep 2024
Association of cannabis use with patient-reported pain measures among adults with chronic pain in US states with medical cannabis programs.
Most Americans live in a state that has legalized cannabis as a medical treatment for pain, but it is unclear how chronic pain intensity relates to cannabis use. Our objective was to examine the association between patient-reported pain measures and cannabis among adults with chronic pain. ⋯ People with chronic non-cancer pain who used cannabis for pain reported non-clinically meaningful worse pain measures and greater burden of chronic pain conditions than their counterparts who never used cannabis. Alternatively, those with worse pain and greater burden of pain appear more likely to use cannabis.