Articles: opioid.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2023
Effect of Training on Physicians' Palliative Care-Related Knowledge and Attitudes in Vietnam.
Palliative care remains largely inaccessible in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and efforts to increase access are impeded by lack of training of proven effectiveness for physicians. ⋯ Our basic palliative care course in Vietnam resulted in significant and enduring improvements among physicians in palliative care-related knowledge, attitudes, and self-assessed competence. To respond to the enormous unmet need for palliative care in LMICs, primary care providers and physician-specialists in many fields, among others, should receive palliative care training of proven effectiveness, receive ongoing mentoring or refresher training, and be given the responsibility and opportunity to practice what they learn.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Disparities in Emergency Department and Urgent Care Opioid Prescribing Before and After Randomized Clinician Feedback Interventions.
Racial and ethnic minorities receive opioid prescriptions at lower rates and dosages than White patients. Though opioid stewardship interventions can improve or exacerbate these disparities, there is little evidence about these effects. We conducted a secondary analysis of a cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted among 438 clinicians from 21 emergency departments and 27 urgent care clinics. Our objective was to determine whether randomly allocated opioid stewardship clinician feedback interventions that were designed to reduce opioid prescriptions had unintended effects on disparities in prescribing by patient race and ethnicity. ⋯ Combined individual audit and peer comparison feedback was associated with fewer opioid pills per prescription equally by patient race and ethnicity. However, the intervention did not significantly close the baseline disparity in prescribing by race.
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Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that is available in numerous formulations and can be easily administered to avert death from opioid overdose. Amid a historic overdose crisis in the United States, naloxone has a crucial role in stemming the loss of life. However, it remains largely inaccessible to the public. ⋯ Specifically, we must ensure that a larger supply of naloxone will meet the newly increased demand at a sustainable price for consumers who are most in need. We must also continue to prioritize comprehensive methods of distribution, such as overdose education and naloxone distribution programs, that serve as important tools to reach the most vulnerable populations. In addition, simultaneous investment in harm-reduction strategies, such as supervised consumption spaces, is critical to ensure that naloxone is available in settings where its life-saving potential can be most fully realized.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Postoperative recovery after breast cancer surgery: A randomised controlled trial of opioid-based versus opioid-free anaesthesia with thoracic paravertebral block.
Perioperative use of opioids has revealed significant adverse effects associated with poor postoperative outcomes. ⋯ TPVB-based opioid-free anaesthesia improved early postoperative quality of recovery without compromising pain control in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery.
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There is increasing interest in performing awake spinal fusion under spinal anesthesia (SA). Evidence supporting SA has been positive, albeit limited. The authors set out to investigate the effects of SA versus general anesthesia (GA) for spinal fusion procedures on length of stay (LOS), opioid use, time to ambulation (TTA), and procedure duration. ⋯ These preliminary retrospective results suggest the use of SA rather than GA for lumbar fusions is associated with reduced hospital LOS, reduced opioid utilization, and reduced TTA. Future randomized prospective studies are warranted to determine if SA usage truly leads to these beneficial outcomes.