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In an article in the Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia, researchers investigated patients attempting to get medical cannabis for their chronic pain. Researchers looked at the long-term effect of cannabis on these patients through patterns of cannabis use and primary outcomes—pain intensity and...
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Threats. Harassment. Attacks. There have been reports recently about practitioners saying “No” to patients requesting opioids, and either being threatened or actually harmed. In Minnesota, five people were shot, and one killed, by a man who had been denied painkillers. A report in the Baltimore Sun...
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Pain, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, opioids. A study presented at the Association of Academic Physiatrists Annual Meeting linked all of those to "the socially disadvantaged" and stated that more needs to be done to improve patient outcomes. A lack of access to nonpharmacological therapy, such...
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A research letter published in JAMA Surgery compares postsurgery pain relief and patient satisfaction via patient-reported outcomes after common operations. What’s the right balance between excessive prescribing of opioids and inferior pain control? Over 600 patients were surveyed 1 to 3 months...
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The Journal of the American College of Surgeons published an article outlining treatment for injured patients, managing pain and minimizing opioids. By comparing two multimodal pain management regimens (MMPR) through an effectiveness trial, they examined adult trauma admissions, excluding...
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An article published in the Annals of Family Medicine journal states that painkillers may not address all aspects of pain, and may add to dysfunction. In their abstract, pain experts Mark Sullivan and Jane Ballantyne, from the University of Washington School of Medicine, state, "The US opioid...
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A systematic review published in BMJ Open looked at the use of analgesic doses of ketamine to assess its efficacy and safety compared with other analgesic drugs (or no drug) in adult prehospital patients with acute pain. Culling information from clinical trials, the researchers included 8 studies...
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An article in JAMA Network Open asked the question, “Have prescriptions for Schedule II opioids with high abuse potential, vs Schedule IV tramadol (lower abuse potential), decreased in the 18-month periods before and after publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opioid...
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A team of multidisciplinary healthcare experts and opioid stewardship leaders have provided new opioid guidelines for children and adolescents postsurgery. Their recommendations are published in JAMA Surgery. Lorraine Kelley-Quon, MD, MSHS, a pediatric surgeon, and a diverse team of healthcare...
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An Annals of Internal Medicine online article seeks “To characterize the quality of safety and efficacy data in new drug applications (NDAs) for opioid analgesics approved by the FDA between 1997 and 2018.” Researchers state that “Approvals of prescription opioids by the U.S. Food and Drug...