Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0184567 (acute pain)
 3,962 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Patients requiring acute pain management may be opioid dependent as a result of either recreational or therapeutic opioid use, including those in opioid addiction programmes. Pain in these patients is often under-estimated and under-treated. In addiction, drug-seeking behaviour differentiates it from simple dependence. With few randomised controlled trials, current evidence predominantly consists of guidelines based on case reports, retrospective studies and expert opinion. Consensus recommendations include maintaining regular provision of the patient's pre-existing opioid requirement, with additional analgesia, ideally multimodal, in appropriate combinations of short-acting opioid (as required), local anaesthesia, and adjuvant anti-inflammatory analgesics and paracetamol. Patient controlled analgesia with higher bolus doses and shorter lock-out intervals is a recommended strategy. Transdermal opioid patches and implantable pumps will continue to deliver opioid, to which non-opioid and short-acting opioids may be added. Re-exposure to opioid is ideally avoided in previously addicted patients, but if not feasible, opioid therapy should be prescribed.
 ...
PMID:Acute pain management for opioid dependent patients. 1692 67

Opioids have proven very useful for treatment of acute pain and cancer pain, and in the developed countries opioids are increasingly used for treatment of chronic non-malignant pain patients as well. This literature review aims at giving an overview of definitions, mechanisms, diagnostic criteria, incidence and prevalence of addiction in opioid treated pain patients, screening tools for assessing opioid addiction in chronic pain patients and recommendations regarding addiction problems in national and international guidelines for opioid treatment in cancer patients and chronic non-malignant pain patients. The review indicates that the prevalence of addiction varied from 0% up to 50% in chronic non-malignant pain patients, and from 0% to 7.7% in cancer patients depending of the subpopulation studied and the criteria used. The risk of addiction has to be considered when initiating long-term opioid treatment as addiction may result in poor pain control. Several screening tools were identified, but only a few were thoroughly validated with respect to validity and reliability. Most of the identified guidelines mention addiction as a potential problem. The guidelines in cancer pain management are concerned with the fact that pain may be under treated because of fear of addiction, and the guidelines in management of non-malignant pain patients include warnings of addiction. According to the literature, it seems appropriate and necessary to be aware of the problems associated with addiction during long-term opioid treatment, and specialised treatment facilities for pain management or addiction medicine should be consulted in these cases.
 ...
PMID:Addiction to opioids in chronic pain patients: a literature review. 1707 82

Functional MRI (fMRI) has provided new insights into brain mechanisms in chronic pain. However, unlike acute pain measures in healthy volunteers, there are additional concerns relating to mapping brain circuits in these patients. These include the ability to measure evoked versus spontaneous pain, background conditions such as medications, or comorbid diseases such as depression, anxiety, or addiction. Nevertheless, our understanding of the centralization of pain with attendant changes in sensory, emotional, and autonomic function is being more clearly realized and has significant implications for defining the disease state and therapeutic interventions. It is possible that fMRI may become clinically useful.
 ...
PMID:Phenotyping central nervous system circuitry in chronic pain using functional MRI: considerations and potential implications in the clinic. 1750 47

The problem of therapeutic opioid misuse largely affects patients who need opioids to treat chronic pain conditions. Opioid misuse is rarely an overt clinical problem during end of life or acute pain treatment. Misuse attaches a stigma to opioid use, and makes many patients and prescribers reluctant to use these uniquely effective drugs, even when misuse is unlikely. Cancer was once an explosive, typically terminal disease and became the prototype for end-of-life opioid pain treatment. However, cancer is no longer such an explosive disease, and many cancer sufferers can now expect to have a prolonged, even normal, lifespan. They may need pain treatment, but this treatment should not be modeled on palliative care paradigms. This article describes the underlying mechanisms of opioid dependence and its progression to addiction, and suggests a cautious approach to opioid treatment of chronic cancer pain that aims to minimize the problem of misuse.
 ...
PMID:Opioid misuse in oncology pain patients. 1768 91

Anxieties and emotional disturbances associated with cancer often cause pain therapy to be unsuccessful. When psychological support is required it is mostly aimed at supporting cancer patients in attempts to cope with their disease so as to improve the efficiency of pain therapy. In our study we focused on the barriers to cancer pain management that lie in patient's beliefs about pain and their coping behavior. A pilot study was designed to examine the subjective experience of pain and coping strategies. In a sample of 146 cancer outpatients with pain we found moderate pain intensity levels and good physical conditions (Karnofsky), but an extensive impact on mood and vegetative symptoms associated with "constant or daily pain" and/or attribution of pain to cancer. Coping was characterized by stoicism, "being brave", comparison with others and self-encouragement, but seldom by communication, requests for help or such strategies as distraction, enjoyment and relaxation. Only one third of the pain patients communicated their pain. Women and the patients who had higher pain intensity levels were more likely to suffer in silence, but those who communicated had better acceptance levels of pain intensity than those who did not. In a second study we focused on two questions. What do patients think about pain therapy? Can patients' attitudes on pain and pain management be changed by an information brochure? Selected results obtained in a sample of 72 cancer pain patients are reported. From a 30-item list of statements about pain and pain management, which were extracted from the previous interviews, three distinct types of attitudes in pain patients were derived by cluster analysis. One group of 29 patients was characterized by "non-acceptance of analgesic pain management'. With respect to medication intake, they were afraid of subjecting themselves to physical stress, of addiction and side effects and of loss of control over the disease. They hoped their pain would disappear when the tumour therapy took effect (as with acute pain) and thought they could tolerate it stoically. These patients wanted to take medication only if tumour therapy had no effect and when death was imminent. They had a pain intensity level of 5.5 VAS (without therapy). Adequate pain therapy was given to 14.3% of the "nonacceptors", significantly less (P=0.002) than to the "acceptors" (n=31) who had pain intensity levels of 7.7 VAS (without pain therapy) and had attitudes quite opposed to those of the first group. Adequate pain therapy was given to 58.6% of this group. The third group of patients (n=12) was characterized by "ambivalence toward analgesic pain management". They were similar to the acceptors insofar as they did not fear addiction and side effects of medication, but they were similar to the non-acceptors insofar as they were afraid of losing control over the disease and of putting their body under stress. They also tended to bear pain stoically. Their pain intensity level without therapy was 6.3 VAS. With respect to coping strategies, communication was found significantly less often (P=0.001) than cognitive and behavioural coping. Those patients who used cognitive coping strategies and did not communicate often received inadequate pain therapy. Those who talked about pain but did not use any other coping strategies were mostly well treated. We have designed a brochure, "What tumour patients should know about pain" directly oriented on the above pain beliefs; this is now being evaluated with reference to its educational effect.
 ...
PMID:[Cancer pain: Coping and communication.]. 1841 97

Medications which bind to opioid receptors are increasingly being prescribed for the treatment of multiple and diverse chronic painful conditions. Their use for acute pain or terminal pain is well accepted. Their role in the long-term treatment of chronic noncancer pain is, however, controversial for many reasons. One of the primary reasons is the well-known phenomenon of psychological addiction that can occur with the use of these medications. Abuse and diversion of these medications is a growing problem as the availability of these medications increases and this public health issue confounds their clinical utility. Also, the extent of their efficacy in the treatment of pain when utilized on a chronic basis has not been definitively proven. Lastly, the role of opioids in the treatment of chronic pain is also influenced by the fact that these potent analgesics are associated with a significant number of side effects and complications. It is these phenomena that are the focus of this review. Common side effects of opioid administration include sedation, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, constipation, physical dependence, tolerance, and respiratory depression. Physical dependence and addiction are clinical concerns that may prevent proper prescribing and in turn inadequate pain management. Less common side effects may include delayed gastric emptying, hyperalgesia, immunologic and hormonal dysfunction, muscle rigidity, and myoclonus. The most common side effects of opioid usage are constipation (which has a very high incidence) and nausea. These 2 side effects can be difficult to manage and frequently tolerance to them does not develop; this is especially true for constipation. They may be severe enough to require opioid discontinuation, and contribute to under-dosing and inadequate analgesia. Several clinical trials are underway to identify adjunct therapies that may mitigate these side effects. Switching opioids and/or routes of administration may also provide benefits for patients. Proper patient screening, education, and preemptive treatment of potential side effects may aid in maximizing effectiveness while reducing the severity of side effects and adverse events. Opioids can be considered broad spectrum analgesic agents, affecting a wide number of organ systems and influencing a large number of body functions.
 ...
PMID:Opioid complications and side effects. 1844 35

Therapeutic opioid use and abuse coupled with the nonmedical use of other psychotherapeutic drugs has shown an explosive growth in recent years and has been a topic of great concern and controversy. Americans, constituting only 4.6% of the world's population, have been consuming 80% of the global opioid supply, and 99% of the global hydrocodone supply, as well as two-thirds of the world's illegal drugs. With the increasing therapeutic use of opioids, the supply and retail sales of opioids are mirrored by increasing abuse in patients receiving opioids, nonmedical use of other psychotherapeutic drugs (in this article the category of psychotherapeutics includes pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives, but does not include over-the-counter drugs), emergency department visits for prescription controlled drugs, exploding costs, increasing incidence of side effects, and unintentional deaths. However, all these ills of illicit drug use and opioid use, abuse, and non-medical use do not stop with adults. It has been shown that 80% of America's high school students, or 11 million teens, and 44% of middle school students, or 5 million teens, have personally witnessed, on the grounds of their schools, illegal drug use, illegal drug dealing, illegal drug possession, and other activities related to drug abuse. The results of the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 7.0 million or 2.8% of all persons aged 12 or older had used prescription type psychotherapeutic drugs nonmedically in the past month, 16.387 million, or 6.6% of the population, had used in the past year, and 20.3%, or almost 49.8 million, had used prescription psychotherapeutic drugs nonmedically during their lifetime. Sadly, the initiates of psychotherapeutic drugs used for nonmedical purposes were highest for opioids. Therapeutic opioid use has increased substantially, specifically of Schedule II drugs. Apart from lack of effectiveness (except for short-term, acute pain) there are multiple adverse consequences including hormonal and immune system effects, abuse and addiction, tolerance, and hyperalgesia. Patients on long-term opioid use have been shown to increase the overall cost of healthcare, disability, rates of surgery, and late opioid use.
 ...
PMID:Therapeutic opioids: a ten-year perspective on the complexities and complications of the escalating use, abuse, and nonmedical use of opioids. 1844 41

The realm of addiction and addiction medicine is one in which physicians receive little formal training, particularly in surgical subspecialties. This article presents an overview of addiction medicine and treatment, concentrating on the neurophysiology, psychological aspects, and terminology. Assessment tools and objective findings for recognizing addiction in patients in pain are discussed, as is the management of acute pain and perioperative considerations for patients who are undergoing opioid treatment programs.
 ...
PMID:Understanding addiction: the orthopedic surgical perspective to a significant problem. 1848 57

Managing acute pain in opioid tolerant patients can be a significant challenge. This article will provide an overview of the terminology used when managing acute pain in these patients. This understanding is essential to ensure adequate pain relief while avoiding opioid withdrawal. It is also crucial that these patients are identified and that sufficient peri- and postoperative pain management plans are formulated. This article will present an overview of the terms tolerance, physical dependence and addiction. The literature on the management of acute pain in opioid tolerant patients will be considered. Finally an audit that explores and compares the practises of a group of London hospitals, with regard to managing postsurgical pain in opioid-dependent patients will be discussed.
 ...
PMID:Managing acute pain in opioid tolerant patients. 1905 63

Admissions to hospital for patients aged over 65 years are three times higher than for younger patients for all medical and surgical wards. Older people are often excluded from trials on pain assessment and treatment because of cognitive or sensory impairments. Professionals tend to underestimate pain needs, under-prescribe and under-medicate in general and in older people in particular. Where studies have included older people, the benefit of treatment is similar regardless of age. The first step in managing acute pain is through its assessment. Although pain is a subjective experience, pain rating scales are valid and reliable when used appropriately. Older people demonstrate some differences in reporting pain that may be attributable to a range of factors including biology, culture, religion, ethnicity, cognitive impairment, organisation or social context. Attitudinal barriers are also relevant because these include a persistent belief that older people experience less pain than other age groups. Not surprisingly, older people themselves might believe that pain is something to be endured, strong analgesics lead to addiction, complaining about pain is a sign of personal weakness and pain is an inevitable part of aging. Undertreatment of pain can lead to the development of chronic pain syndromes that can prove difficult to treat and adversely affect long-term quality of life. Effective treatment is paramount because of the increased morbidity and mortality associated with undertreated pain.
 ...
PMID:Pain assessment in the elderly. 2000 88


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next >>