Opioid
Opioid use among patients with knee osteoarthritis costs US society $14B
The societal cost of total lifetime opioid use in patients with knee osteoarthritis is approximately $14 billion, nearly half of which is due to lost work productivity, diversion and criminal justice costs, according to data.
Opioid, macrolide use in pregnancy not tied to overall birth defect risk
Children born to mothers who used opioids and macrolide antibiotics do not have increased risks for major birth defects, according to two studies published in the BMJ.
Individualized approach to pain management required in metastatic breast cancer
Most women with metastatic breast cancer require opioids for pain management within a month of diagnosis, according to observational study results published in Scientific Reports.
Many teens and young adults misuse prescribed psychoactive drugs
A significant proportion of teens and young adults in the United States prescribed a psychoactive drug reported misusing that drug, according to study results published in Family Medicine and Community Health.
Opioids most frequent prescription for newly diagnosed diabetic peripheral neuropathy
Among adults with newly diagnosed diabetic peripheral neuropathy treated at a multi-campus health system, 43.8% were prescribed opioids, whereas only 42.9% were prescribed a recommended first-line pain medication, according to study data.
Should opioids continue to be a component of pain management for children with cancer?
Opioids are needed when the pain cannot be blocked with a regional intervention, or when the pain is severe and the patient is on active chemotherapy and cannot have acetaminophen or anti-inflammatories. The use of opioids should ideally be short-term, at the lowest effective dose and used as needed — we would want to add other lines of therapy when the rest of the medical picture allows.
Pediatric cancer pain management requires balancing function with comfort
For many people living with cancer and undergoing its various treatments, some degree of pain is inevitable, and children are no exception.
Q&A: ‘Incredibly cost-effective’ tool facilitates safer opioid prescribing
A physician practicing in a region hit hard by the opioid crisis helped develop a program that ascertains which patients in chronic pain who take opioids should undergo urine drug testing and how physicians can interpret these test results.
Pregnant women ‘frequently’ coprescribed opioids, psychotropics
Pregnant women were “frequently” coprescribed opioids and psychotropic medications, researchers of a cross-sectional study wrote. These prescriptions sometimes led to antepartum hospitalization, they added.