Opioid

Nearly a quarter of strong opioid use among patients with rheumatoid arthritis is potentially attributable to obesity and its associated comorbidities, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

While rheumatic diseases like ankylosing spondylitis confound clinicians, tumor necrosis factor inhibitors have shown consistent efficacy and safety to be a reliable tool for rheumatologists in this patient population.

Nearly 1 in 10 patients who underwent CABG or heart valve surgery continued prescription opioid used more than 90 days after surgery, researchers found.

Although it is common to prescribe opioids for pain management for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, there has been a decline in opioid prescription rates since 2015, which may be attributed to the increased restrictions on opioid access, according to data presented at the virtual ASCO Annual Meeting.

Ventilated patients with severe COVID-19 infection may experience air hunger and psychological trauma. A new paper published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society calls attention to ventilation and medication strategies.

Opioid agonist therapy can increase linkage to hepatitis C virus care among people who inject drugs, or PWID, according to a systematic review in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Physicians across five countries in Europe reported decreasing satisfaction with treatment for their patients with osteoarthritis, as well as increasing disease severity despite the rising use of opioids, according to findings presented at EULAR 2020.

A novel predictive model appeared to identify patients who may progress into persistent high-dose opioid use and dependence following total knee replacement, according to data presented at the EULAR 2020 E-Congress.

Peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonists helped patients with opioid-induced constipation achieve therapeutic response, according to a meta-analysis published in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

Just 16.6% of commercially insured patients receive follow-up care after being released from the ED for a nonfatal opioid overdose, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.