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The journal of Anesthesiology featured a special article in which a new concept is presented: a prescription opioid ecosystem. The need for this ecosystem stems from the “opioid paradox” that, even though the past 10 years has seen a drop in opioid prescribing of about 38%, deaths from opioids have...
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The journal of Pediatrics reports a study of the transition from medical use of opioids in children to nonmedical use later in life. What does early exposure lead to? Reviewers searched almost a dozen databases for patients under age 18 who underwent a short or unknown course of opioids, who later...
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With fatal overdoses at an all time high and opioids responsible for over 70% of them, naloxone is greatly needed. But over half of overdoses happen when the user is alone; 27% occur in front of bystanders who don’t realize what is happening or don’t know what to do. Therefore, news of a wearable...
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In a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY annual meeting, the concerns of postsurgery opioid use, and the groups most at risk, were highlighted. For patients using opioids for the first time for pain management after surgery, certain groups—people who smoke, those who suffer from depression, and...
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At the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ 18th Annual Perioperative and Critical Care Conference, results from an examination of opioid prescribing for over 2,000 lung resection patients were presented. These patients were enrolled in an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol, which lead to...
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One patient, multiple doctors, multiple medications. A study published in JAMA Network Open looked at benzodiazepines and opioid prescribing and, even when adjusted for patient characteristics and prescription dosing, a 20% higher risk of overdosing was seen. Data from over 525,000 patients was...
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JAMA reports a noted increase in opioid use disorder treatments in those enrolled in Medicaid. The study looked at over a million enrollees from 11 states: medication treatment prevalence in 2014 was 47.8% and in 2018, 57.1%. Of note, use of OUD medication was higher in pregnant women and white...
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“In patients prescribed stable, long-term, high-dose opioid therapy, is dose tapering associated with an increased risk of overdose or mental health crisis?” That is the question discussed in an article published in JAMA. Over 100,000 patients who had their opioid dose tapered were included in this...
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How much of a problem is doctor shopping? “Doctor shopping” is defined as ≥1 day of getting overlapping prescriptions for opioids from ≥2 prescribers and going to ≥3 pharmacies to have them filled. A recent article published in the Journal of Pain Research looked at patients with chronic noncancer...
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Postoperative pain in adults. Which is better for pain relief after outpatient surgery, NSAIDs or codeine? An article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, or CMAJ, detailed the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis, with patient pain scores as the primary outcome and...