opioids

Why are people who live with severe, daily chronic pain not included in the conversation around pain management?

The title says it all. Why are those people who are living with daily, severe pain excluded from the conversation around pain management? Why are we treated as problems with no solution, difficult, unpleasant and something to be swept under the rug? With “patient centred… Read More »Why are people who live with severe, daily chronic pain not included in the conversation around pain management?

Study: Initial opioid prescription patterns and the risk of ongoing use and adverse outcomes

Published March 2021 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33300138/ This is a very large study with 2,021,371 participants. It looked at patients who were prescribed an opioid for pain and examined how many people continued to take them long-term (addiction) (3.17%) and how many experienced an opioid overdose (0.055%). It’s… Read More »Study: Initial opioid prescription patterns and the risk of ongoing use and adverse outcomes

Misinterpretation of the “Overdose Crisis” Continues to Fuel Misunderstanding of the Role of Prescription Opioids

The study demonstrates that most overdoses are due to polypharmacy, not due to opioids alone and the numbers of ‘opioid’ induced deaths are inflated by including all deaths where opioids were found on toxicology, but may not have been the cause of death.:

Study: Are Prescription Opioids Driving the Opioid Crisis? Assumptions vs Facts

Many current assumptions about opioid analgesics are ill-founded. Illicit fentanyl and heroin, not opioid prescribing, now fuel the current opioid overdose epidemic. National discussion has often neglected the potentially devastating effects of uncontrolled chronic pain. Opioid analgesic prescribing and related overdoses are in decline, at great cost to patients with pain who have benefited or may benefit from, but cannot access, opioid analgesic therapy.

Study: Efficacy of opioids versus placebo in chronic pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of enriched enrolment randomized withdrawal trials

This meta-analysis of FDA-required double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of opioid analgesics for the treatment of chronic pain has shown that there is an ample evidence base supporting the efficacy of opioid analgesics for at least 3 months’ duration, a standard period for the evaluation of treatments for chronic pain and other chronic disorders

GUIDELINE FOR DEPRESCRIBING OPIOID ANALGESICS

This is important for every Australian who is on long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain https://www.opioiddeprescribingguideline.com Most people in the chronic pain community will not be aware that there are Draft Opioid Deprescribing Guidelines currently open for public comment. The Draft Guidelines and a template… Read More »GUIDELINE FOR DEPRESCRIBING OPIOID ANALGESICS

Study: “One Size Fits All” Doesn’t Fit When It Comes to Long-Term Opioid Use for People with Chronic Pain

M. E. Lynch &J. KatzPublished online: 04 May 2017 Information courtesy of Kev James, Chronic Pain Patient Advocate. LinkedIn Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24740527.2017.1319733 This study pulls no punches: “The use of opioids in chronic non-cancer pain continues to be a flashpoint in medicine. The media and others… Read More »Study: “One Size Fits All” Doesn’t Fit When It Comes to Long-Term Opioid Use for People with Chronic Pain

Study: Appropriate and responsible use of opioids in chronic non-cancer pain

Harald Breivik First published: 09 January 2012 Information courtesy of Kev James, Chronic Pain Patient Advocate. LinkedIn Read the full study here In 2012 a group of distinguished pain clinicians from nine European countries got together to discuss the appropriate use of strong opioids for… Read More »Study: Appropriate and responsible use of opioids in chronic non-cancer pain

Study: Long-term use of controlled-release oxycodone for noncancer pain: results of a 3-year registry study

After three months of treatment, the large majority of patients, who were on stable doses, the average pain intensity scores were unchanged or improved for approximately 70 to 80% of patients. The most common adverse events were not serious, including constipation and nausea, and the incidence of these events declined over time on treatment.

Are opioids safe and effective for chronic non-cancer pain? Summary of the evidence

Chronic non-cancer pain – It is oft said that opioids are not effective long term, and that chronic non-cancer pain should not be treated with opioids for this reason. It is said that there is ‘no evidence that opioids work for pain long term’ and this lack of evidence is regarded as evidence.