Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
-
Multicenter Study
Patients' Perspectives on Tapering of Chronic Opioid Therapy: A Qualitative Study.
OBJECTIVE : There is inadequate evidence of long-term benefit and growing evidence of the risks of chronic opioid therapy (COT). Opioid dose reduction, or opioid tapering, may reduce these risks but may also worsen pain and quality of life. Our objective was to explore patients' perspectives on opioid tapering. ⋯ These patients endorsed improved quality of life following tapering. CONCLUSIONS : Efforts to support opioid tapering should elicit patients' perceived barriers and seek to build on relationships with family, peers, and providers to facilitate tapering. Future work should identify patient-centered, feasible strategies to support tapering of COT.
-
Letter Case Reports
Postoperative Bilateral Brachial Plexopathy in a Diabetic Patient.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
SoluMatrix® Diclofenac: Sustained Opioid-Sparing Effects in a Phase 3 Study in Patients with Postoperative Pain.
To evaluate opioid rescue medication usage and the opioid-sparing effect of low-dose SoluMatrix(®) diclofenac developed using SoluMatrix Fine Particle Technology™ in a phase 3 study in patients experiencing pain following bunionectomy surgery. ⋯ The opioid-sparing effect following low-dose SoluMatrix diclofenac (35 mg or 18 mg three times daily) administration was evaluated in patients experiencing pain following bunionectomy. Significantly fewer patients receiving SoluMatrix diclofenac or celecoxib (400 mg loading, 200 mg twice daily) required rescue medication during 0-24 h and >24-48 h following bunionectomy compared with placebo. No serious adverse events were reported among patients who received SoluMatrix diclofenac. SoluMatrix diclofenac may reduce opioid usage in the postoperative setting in patients with acute pain.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Changes in Pain Sensitivity and Pain Modulation During Oral Opioid Treatment: The Impact of Negative Affect.
Opioids are frequently prescribed for chronic low back pain (CLBP), but there are broad individual differences in the benefits and risks of opioid therapy, including the development opioid-induced hyperalgesia. This study examined quantitative sensory testing (QST) data among a group of CLBP patients undergoing sustained oral opioid treatment. We investigated whether individual differences in psychological characteristics were related to opioid-induced changes in pain perception and pain modulation. ⋯ These results reveal that while the low NA group seemed to exhibit a generally adaptive, analgesic pattern of changes during opioid management, the high NA group showed a pattern more consistent with opioid-induced hyperalgesic processes. A greater susceptibility to hyperalgesia-promoting changes in pain modulation among patients with high levels of distress may contribute to a lower degree of benefit from opioid treatment in high NA patients.