Pain physician
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Opioid misuse and abuse occurring in association with the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain are not new phenomena, but their increasing prevalence in recent years is unprecedented. Advancements in pharmaceutical technologies have provided opioid-related drugs, which lack the pure mu agonist activity characteristic of the typical opioid congeners. This absent or altered mu receptor activity imparts an opioid receptor antagonistic or partial agonistic pharmacologic action, which serves to modulate the development of opioid-induced tolerance and physical dependence and facilitate detoxification and withdrawal from opioids. Opioid antagonists and partial agonists are being used in abuse deterrent strategy regimens to prevent opioid tolerance and the development of dependence, as well as in the management of opioid detoxification and treatment of withdrawal. The specific opioid antagonists and partial agonists used in these various therapeutic modalities will be the focus of this review. ⋯ Opioid dependency, whether it results from the misuse or abuse of prescription or street drugs, continues to be a significant public health issue. Passage of DATA 2000 and US Food and Drug Administration approval of buprenorphine and buprenorphine/ naloxone has revolutionized opioid dependence therapy. The traditional addiction medicine therapy regimen of methadone maintenance, with its inherent legal limitations and restrictions, has been challenged by an office-based dependence practice with buprenorphine serving as a prominent therapeutic tool.
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The non-medical use of and harms related to prescription opioid (PO) analgesics - key medications to treat severe and chronic pain - are an emerging public health concern globally. PO use is proportionally highest in North America, where, consequently, nonmedical PO use (NMPOU) and morbidity/mortality are high and well documented for the United States. Canada is the country with the second highest PO consumption rate in the world - with steeper recent increases in PO use than the US - mainly driven by substantial increases in the use of strong opioids (e.g., oxycodone). Indications and select data of NMPOU and PO-related morbidity and mortality have emerged in recent years, yet a systematic and comprehensive collection of relevant data to characterize the phenomenon in Canada does not exist. ⋯ Corresponding to its increasing and high overall PO consumption levels, NMPOU and PO-related harms in Canada are high based on available data, and likely now constitute the third highest level of substance use burden of disease (after alcohol and tobacco). The data and monitoring situation in Canada regarding NMPOU and PO-related harms are fragmented, un-systematic, and insufficient. While major and concerted policy initiatives - primarily from the federal level - are absent to date, these urgently require vastly improved national data indicators and monitoring in order to allow for and evaluate evidence-based interventions on this urgent and extensive public health problem.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of fluoroscopically guided caudal epidural steroid or local anesthetic injections in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation and radiculitis: a randomized, controlled, double blind trial with a two-year follow-up.
Lumbar disc herniation and radiculitis are common elements of low back and lower extremity pain. Among minimally invasive treatments, epidural injections are one of the most commonly performed interventions. However, the literature is mixed about their effectiveness in managing low back and lower extremity pain. In general, individual studies and systematic reviews of epidural steroid injections have been hampered by their study design, baseline differences between treatment groups, inadequate sample sizes, highly controlled settings, lack of validated outcome measures, and the inability to confirm the injectate location because fluoroscopy was not used. ⋯ Caudal epidural injections of local anesthetic with or without steroids might be an effective therapy for patients with disc herniation or radiculitis. The present evidence illustrates the potential superiority of steroids compared with local anesthetic at two year follow up based on average relief per procedure.
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In all recommended guidelines put forth for the treatment of cancer pain, opioids continue to be an important part of a physician's armamentarium. Though opioids are used regularly for cancer pain, there is a paucity of literature proving efficacy for long-term use. Cancer is no longer considered a "terminal disease"; 50% to 65% of patients survive for at least 2 years, and there are about 12 million cancer survivors in the United States. There is a concern about side effects, tolerance, abuse and addiction with long-term opioid use and a need to evaluate the effectiveness of opioids for cancer pain. ⋯ This systematic review of RCTs of opioids for cancer pain showed fair evidence for the efficacy of transdermal fentanyl and poor evidence for morphine, tramadol, oxycodone, methadone, and codeine.