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An article published in Frontiers in Pain Research examined the effectiveness and safety of medical cannabis (MC) treatment for cancer pain. Over 320 oncology patients initiated MC treatment, with 212, 158, and 126 reporting in at 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively, of follow-up. Overall findings:
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A traumatic injury is defined as one that occurs suddenly, with a degree of severity. If patients are given opioids by emergency medical services (EMS), how does it affect their later pain levels? Researchers, publishing in the Injury journal, identified over 3,800,000 injured patients via data from...
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Although up to 60% of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) also have chronic pain, the conditions have been mostly studied separately. A $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Helping End Addiction Long-term Initiative to the Wake Forest University School of Medicine hopes to...
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Pediatric pain assessment and management are frequently underestimated and undertreated. Therefore, those practitioners working in the emergency sector should be ready with strategies. An article in the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open provides suggestions for pain and...
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The Lancet Public Health journal published findings from a study of opioid analgesic consumption in 66 countries and found great disparity. Consumption was measured in milligram morphine equivalent per 1000 inhabitants per day (MME per 1000/day), from 2015 to 2019. Of much concern, “Opioid use in...
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New guidelines for perioperative acute pain treatment in patients undergoing complex surgeries have been established by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and 14 other societies, including American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery...
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In a narrative review published in Cureus, researchers examined acute pain, which is normal postsurgery, and its potential transition to chronic pain. Postsurgery rates of persistent/subacute pain (lasting over a month) range from 10% to 50%; chronic pain (lasting more than 3 months) is seen in 2%...
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Postsurgery, who needs which kind of pain management medication? A study published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery looks at opioid-naïve patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting and/or valve surgery. Of more than 1900 patients, 28% were discharged without a prescription for opioids...
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The Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research reports the potential benefits of combination therapy after posterior spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents. While it is known that pain scores, postop opioid usage, and needed physical therapy are reduced through the use of gabapentin...
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After thoracic surgery, chronic neuropathic pain is common—3 months postsurgery, the rate of postthoracotomy pain syndrome (PTPS) is over half; at 6 months, 47%. Symptoms/complications include shooting/burning pain, shocking, and aching pain that can last years. A study published in the Journal of...