Articles: opioid.
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Patients with renal colic present to the emergency department in excruciating pain. There is variability in practice regarding the choice of initial analgesic to be used in renal colic. The aim of this article is to outline the protocol for review of the efficacy and safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), opioids and paracetamol use in renal colic pain management. ⋯ Formal ethics approval is not required, as primary data will not be collected. We plan to publish the result of this review in a peer-reviewed journal.
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Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · May 2017
Defined daily doses (DDD) do not accurately reflect opioid doses used in contemporary chronic pain treatment.
To assess how well the defined daily dose (DDD) metric reflects opioid utilisation among chronic non-cancer pain patients. ⋯ For many opioids, there are key differences between the actual doses used in clinical practice and the WHO's DDDs. The interpretation of opioid utilisation studies using population-level DDDs may be limited, and a recalibration of the DDD for many opioids or the reporting of opioid utilisation in oral morphine equivalent doses is recommended. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · May 2017
Causes of death and expected years of life lost among treated opioid-dependent individuals in the United States and Taiwan.
This study compared the cause-specific standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and expected years of life lost (EYLL) among opioid-dependent individuals in the United States and Taiwan. ⋯ Our study identified differences by country in EYLL and causes of deaths. These findings suggest that intervention strategies to reduce mortality risk by overdose (particularly in the U.S.) and suicide (particularly in Taiwan) are urgently needed in these countries.
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Human psychopharmacology · May 2017
Multicenter StudyImpact of synthetic cannabinoids on the duration of opioid-related withdrawal and craving among patients of addiction clinics in Kazakhstan: A prospective case-control study.
The aim of the study was to prospectively assess whether regular use of synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) affects the duration of opioid-related withdrawal and craving symptoms in patients undergoing drug detoxification treatments. ⋯ This is the first study to assess the impact of SCs on the course of opioid withdrawal and craving symptoms. The results (a) suggest that patients with opioid use disorder in combination with regular use of SCs exhibit a significantly longer duration of opioid withdrawal and craving symptoms, (b) add to the accumulating evidence showing clinical and molecular cross talks between cannabinoids and opioids, and (c) underline novel harmful effects of SCs.