Opioids

Undercount Seen in Opioid Deaths

– Closer look increases toll by 70,000 during 1999-2015 by Judy George, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today June 27, 2018 The number of fatal opioid overdoses may have been higher than previously reported, with some states greatly underestimating the effect of opioid-related deaths, an analysis of National Center for Health Statistics data suggests. Potentially 70,000 opioid-related overdose deaths from 1999 to […]

The Burden of Opioid-Related Mortality in the United States – Full Text

June 2018 Tara Gomes, PhD Key Points Question  What has been the burden of opioid-related deaths in the United States over a recent 15-year period? Findings  In this serial cross-sectional study, we found that the percentage of all deaths attributable to opioids increased 292% (from 0.4% to 1.5%) between 2001 and 2016, resulting in approximately 1.68 million person-years of […]

Opioid Prescribing and Polypharmacy in Children with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Sabrina Gmuca, MD, MSCE Pain Medicine, pny116, https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pny116 Published: 13 June 2018 Abstract Objective Thirty percent of adults with fibromyalgia receive an opioid, but the prevalence of opioid prescribing in pediatric chronic musculoskeletal pain is unknown. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with opioid exposure and polypharmacy […]

Use of Prescription Opioids Before and After Lumbar Fusion Surgery

March 28, 2018 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Adults undergoing lumbar fusion surgery (N = 2491) for chronic back pain were retrospectively followed to evaluate patterns of opioid use following surgery. Long-term opioids were used by 1045 individuals before surgery and by 1094 individuals postoperatively. Long-term postoperative use of opioids was observed in 77.1% of preoperative users and […]

Effect of Opioid vs Nonopioid Medications on Pain-Related Function in Patients With Chronic Back Pain or Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis Pain

March 6, 2018 The SPACE Randomized Clinical Trial Erin E. Krebs, MD, MPH1,2; Amy Gravely, MA1; Sean Nugent, BA1; et al Agnes C. Jensen, MPH1; Beth DeRonne, PharmD1; Elizabeth S. Goldsmith, MD, MS1,3; Kurt Kroenke, MD4,5,6; Matthew J. Bair4,5,6; Siamak Noorbaloochi, PhD1,2 JAMA. 2018;319(9):872-882. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.0899 Key Points Question  For patients with moderate to severe chronic back […]

Association Between Utilization of Chiropractic Services for Treatment of Low-Back Pain and Use of Prescription Opioids

J Altern Complement Med. 2018 Feb 22. doi: 10.1089/acm.2017.0131. [Epub ahead of print] Whedon JM Abstract OBJECTIVE: Pain relief resulting from services delivered by doctors of chiropractic may allow patients to use lower or less frequent doses of opioids, leading to reduced risk of adverse effects. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the […]

Opioids for muscle and joint pain in older people may be harmful

12 February 2018 ~Risk for elderly treated with opioids for muscle and joint pain A new study has shown that opioids offer older people with muscle and joint pain little benefit, whilst significantly increasing the risk of serious negative side effects. Published in the Journal of Pain, the review focussed on the efficacy and safety of prescription […]

Opioids now kill more people than breast cancer

By Nadia Kounang, CNN Updated 12:14 AM ET, Thu December 21, 2017 (CNN) More than 63,600 lives were lost to drug overdose in 2016, the most lethal year yet of the drug overdose epidemic, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of […]

Neck Pain, Preoperative Opioids, and Functionality After Cervical Fusion

Mhamad Faour, MD Orthopedics January/February 2017 – Volume 40 · Issue 1: 25-32 Posted January 24, 2017 DOI: 10.3928/01477447-20161013-02 Abstract The use of opioids among patients with workers’ compensation claims is associated with tremendous costs, especially for patients who undergo spinal surgery. This study compared return-to-work rates after single-level cervical fusion for degenerative disk disease […]

Pain Expert: ‘I Haven’t Prescribed an Opioid in a Decade’ [Video]

by F. Perry Wilson MD, MSCE January 25, 2017 Daniel Clauw, MD, is professor of medicine, anesthesia, and psychiatry at the University of Michigan and director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center. In this era of increasing opioid abuse and overdoses, and harsh criticism for physicians’ use of opioids in the setting of […]

Economic Burden of U.S. Opioid Epidemic $78.5 Billion Annually

Costs includes health care, lost productivity, treatment programs WEDNESDAY, Sept. 21, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Abuse of opioids costs the U.S. economy $78.5 billion a year, according to a study published in the October issue of Medical Care. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed the financial toll of opioid abuse, […]

Many patients who already take opioids continue their use after joint replacement

June 22, 2016 According to results recently published in Pain, many patients who took opioids prior to total knee or total hip arthroplasty persisted to use opioids 6 months postoperatively and a smaller percentage of patients who were opioid-naïve preoperatively also remained on opioids at the follow-up. “After a successful surgery as pain in the […]

Chiropractic: A Safer Strategy than Opioids

Our profession is positioned to play a leading role in helping Americans take advantage of non-pharmacological pain management — and the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) is empowering YOU and every doctor of chiropractic (DC) to lead the discussion in your states and cities. Our landmark positioning paper, “Chiropractic: A Safer Strategy Than Opioids,” is […]

Effects of opioid analgesics for low back pain

JAMA Internal Medicine, 05/27/2016 Shaheed CA, et al. In this research, the researchers aimed tp assess efficacy and tolerability of opioids in the management of back pain; and investigate the effect of opioid dose and use of an enrichment study design on treatment effect. For people with chronic low back pain who tolerate the medicine, […]

Opioids Not Cost-Effective in OA

05.05.2016 by Wayne Kuznar Contributing Writer Incorporating opioids into the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA) was not cost-effective as the drugs had a negative impact on the long-term outcome in patients destined for total knee arthroplasty (TKA), researchers reported. Tramadol with or without oxycodone increased cost and decreased quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) compared with an opioid-sparing […]

Opioid Addiction 2016 Facts & Figures

Opioid Addiction Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illicit drug heroin as well as the licit prescription pain relievers oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl and others.1 Opioids are chemically related and interact with opioid receptors on nerve cells in the brain and nervous system to produce pleasurable effects and relieve pain.1 Addiction is a […]

Cross-Sectional Analysis of Per Capita Supply of Doctors of Chiropractic and Opioid Use in Younger Medicare Beneficiaries

William B Weeks, MD, PhD, MBA Abstract Objective The purpose of this study was to determine whether the per-capita supply of doctors of chiropractic (DCs) or Medicare spending on chiropractic care was associated with opioid use among younger, disabled Medicare beneficiaries. Methods Using 2011 data, at the hospital referral region level, we correlated the per-capita […]

Chronicle of Health Creation: Are Integrative Health and Medicine Part of the National Pain Strategy?

03/29/2016 The medical industry’s uptake of complementary and integrative health and medicine is wildly uneven. This is true even in pain treatment, an area that drew most people to integrative practices and practitioners. For those interested in seeing more integration of these contributions, opening new governmental pronunciations is kind of like a white elephant gift […]

FDA Announces Enhanced Warnings for Immediate-Release Opioid Pain Medications Related to Risks of Misuse, Abuse, Addiction, Overdose and Death

March 23, 2016 New safety warnings also added to all prescription opioid medications to inform prescribers and patients of additional risks related to opioid use FDA News Release Written by Tricia C Elliott MD, FAAFP The new CDC opioid-prescribing guidelines1 along with the recent FDA changes to include box warnings on immediate-release opioids have certainly […]

One Month of Opioid Use Causes Gray Matter Loss, New Study Confirms

MARCH 22, 2016 Scientists from the United States and Australia have confirmed there is reduced gray matter volume in several areas of the brains of people who take opioids for more than a few days (Pain Med 2015 Dec 26. [Epub ahead of print]). The researchers randomly assigned 11 people with low back pain to […]