Pain Management News

Opioid use in patients with autoimmune rheumatic disease has decreased 15% annually since 2014, while use of non-opioid options for pain management has either increased or stabilized, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

An eight-item questionnaire, called Central Aspects of Pain, reliably measures nociplastic pain across a variety of chronically painful musculoskeletal conditions, according to data published in Rheumatology.

Nearly one-quarter of outpatient visits by patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases in the United States between 2006 and 2019 resulted in an opioid prescription, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

In this episode, we dive into the story of aspirin and the development of ibuprofen, ending with the experiments that showed the mechanism of how aspirin actually works.

This month’s featured roundtable on the evolving and broadening role of advanced practice providers in rheumatologic care is a timely discussion, and I give a big thanks to Carrie Beach, BSN, RN-BC; Jeffrey Curtis, MD, MS, MPH; Amanda Mixon, PA-C; Kenneth G. Saag, MD; and Christine Stamatos, DNP, ANP-C.

The AMA adopted policies to protect patients’ access to necessary health care in a variety of ways at its annual meeting.

Self-administered acupressure, combined with a short education program, was a cost-effective method of pain relief that boosted mobility in adults with probable knee osteoarthritis, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.

Patients with rheumatic diseases demonstrate a high reliance on opioids around the time of diagnosis, and significant numbers of patients were not on appropriate treatment in the year afterward, according to data in Clinical Rheumatology.

For readers of my column over the past decade, many will recognize that on numerous occasions I have chosen to discuss empathy.