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
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
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
ReviewCervical zygapophysial (facet) joint pain: effectiveness of interventional management strategies.
Diagnostic facet joint nerve blocks have been utilized in the diagnosis of cervical facet joint pain in patients without disk herniation or radicular pain due to a lack of reliable noninvasive diagnostic measures. Therapeutic interventions include intra-articular injections, facet joint nerve blocks and radiofrequency neurotomy. The diagnostic accuracy and effectiveness of facet joint interventions have been assessed in multiple diagnostic accuracy studies, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and systematic reviews in managing chronic neck pain. ⋯ Prevalence ranged from 36% to 67% with at least 80% pain relief as the criterion standard with a false-positive rate ranging from 27% to 63%. The evidence is Level II for the long-term effectiveness of radiofrequency neurotomy and facet joint nerve blocks in managing cervical facet joint pain. There is Level III evidence for cervical intra-articular injections.