Postgraduate medicine
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Postgraduate medicine · Jan 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEfficacy and tolerability of buccal buprenorphine in opioid-naive patients with moderate to severe chronic low back pain.
Buprenorphine HCl buccal film has been developed for treating chronic pain utilizing BioErodible MucoAdhesive (BEMA(®)) delivery technology. Buccal buprenorphine (BBUP; Belbuca(TM), Endo Pharmaceuticals) was evaluated for the management of moderate to severe chronic low back pain (CLBP) requiring around-the-clock analgesia in a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, enriched-enrollment, randomized-withdrawal study in opioid-naive patients. ⋯ These findings demonstrate the efficacy and tolerability of BBUP among opioid-naive patients requiring around-the-clock opioid treatment for CLBP.
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Postgraduate medicine · Jan 2016
ReviewAn overview of prodrug technology and its application for developing abuse-deterrent opioids.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified prescription drug abuse and overdose deaths as an epidemic. Prescription drug overdose is now the leading cause of injury death, with rates that have more than doubled since 1999. This crisis has developed concurrently with the increased prescribing and availability analgesic drugs, especially opioids, resulting from an effort on the part of clinicians to address a critical need for improved pain assessment and treatment. ⋯ Abusers often attempt to extract the active drug for injection or insufflation. Prodrugs can be designed to be resistant to crushing or dissolving. In this article, we review the concept of prodrugs and introduce and examine the potential of abuse-deterrent opioid prodrugs.
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Postgraduate medicine · Jan 2016
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialLong-term safety and effectiveness of once-daily, single-entity, extended-release hydrocodone over 76 weeks of an open-label study in patients with chronic noncancer and nonneuropathic pain.
To evaluate long-term use of Hysingla(®) ER (HYD), a single-entity, extended-release, once-daily hydrocodone bitartrate tablet with abuse-deterrent properties in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic noncancer and nonneuropathic pain. ⋯ HYD was generally well tolerated. No unexpected safety concerns emerged. Pain control was sustained throughout 76 weeks of treatment.
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Postgraduate medicine · Jan 2016
ReviewOpioid abuse-deterrent strategies: role of clinicians in acute pain management.
Opioid abuse is a healthcare and societal problem that burdens individuals, their families and the healthcare professionals who care for them. Restricting access to opioid analgesics is one option to deter abuse, but this may prevent pain patients in need from obtaining effective analgesics. ⋯ In addition, state governments and payors have enacted monitoring programs, and pharmaceutical companies continue to develop abuse-deterrent opioid formulations. Strategies for clinicians to mitigate opioid abuse include comprehensive patient assessment and universal precautions (e.g. use of multimodal analgesia and abuse-deterrent opioid formulations, urine toxicology screening, participation in prescription drug monitoring and risk evaluation and mitigation strategy programs).
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Postgraduate medicine · Jan 2016
Comparative StudyEffect size comparison of ketorolac nasal spray and commonly prescribed oral combination opioids for pain relief after third molar extraction surgery.
Opioids are frequently used for treatment of moderate to severe short-term pain, but concerns exist about this treatment approach. Ketorolac tromethamine nasal spray, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, is indicated for the short-term management of moderate to moderately severe pain requiring analgesia at the opioid level. However, there are no direct comparison studies between ketorolac nasal spray and opioids. The objective of this study was to use an effect size analysis to compare the effectiveness of ketorolac nasal spray with oral combination opioid formulations in treating moderate to severe short-term pain. ⋯ The treatment effect sizes of ketorolac nasal spray were similar to or higher than the opioid comparators after third molar surgery, a well-accepted pain model. These results support ketorolac nasal spray as an effective treatment for moderate to moderately severe short-term pain.