Interventions for the reduction of prescribed opioid use in chronic non-cancer pain.

Background: This is the first update of the original Cochrane Review published in 2013. The conclusions of this review have not changed from the 2013 publication. People with chronic non-cancer pain who are prescribed and are taking opioids can have a history of long-term, high-dose opioid use without effective pain relief.

Fentanyl for neuropathic pain in adults.

Background: Opioid drugs, including fentanyl, are commonly used to treat neuropathic pain, and are considered effective by some professionals. Most reviews have examined all opioids together. This review sought evidence specifically for fentanyl, at any dose, and by any route of administration.

Oxycodone for pain in fibromyalgia in adults.

Background: This review replaces part of an earlier review that evaluated oxycodone for both neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia, which has now been split into separate reviews for the two conditions. This review will consider pain in fibromyalgia only.Opioid drugs are commonly used to treat fibromyalgia, but they may not be beneficial for people with this condition.

Oxycodone for neuropathic pain in adults.

Background: This is an update of an earlier review that considered both neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia (Issue 6, 2014), which has now been split into separate reviews for the two conditions. This review considers neuropathic pain only.Opioid drugs, including oxycodone, are commonly used to treat neuropathic pain, and are considered effective by some professionals.

Hydromorphone for neuropathic pain in adults.

Background: Opioid drugs, including hydromorphone, are commonly used to treat neuropathic pain, and are considered effective by some professionals. Most reviews have examined all opioids together. This review sought evidence specifically for hydromorphone, at any dose, and by any route of administration.

Opioids and chronic pain: using what we know to change what we do.

Purpose Of Review: The review draws together firm conclusions about effectiveness and harms of prolonged opioid treatment and explores the complex nature of chronic pain.

Recent Findings: The literature may now explain why long-term opioid treatment has failed to live up to its late 20th century promise. An understanding of sources of bias in clinical trials has allowed a more detailed and accurate picture of the role of opioids in chronic pain to emerge and there is recognition that populations in clinical trials differ in very important ways to those given opioids in clinical practice.

Buprenorphine for neuropathic pain in adults.

Background: Opioid drugs, including buprenorphine, are commonly used to treat neuropathic pain, and are considered effective by some professionals. Most reviews have examined all opioids together. This review sought evidence specifically for buprenorphine, at any dose, and by any route of administration.

Prescription opioid misuse in the United States and the United Kingdom: cautionary lessons.

In the United States, opioid analgesics have increasingly been prescribed in the treatment of chronic pain, and this trend has accompanied increasing rates of misuse and overdose. Lawmakers have responded with myriad policies to curb the growing epidemic of opioid misuse, and a global alarm has been sounded among countries wishing to avoid this path. In the United Kingdom, a similar trend of increasing opioid consumption, albeit at lower levels, has been observed without an increase in reported misuse or drug-related deaths.

Oxycodone for neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia in adults.

Background: This review is one of a series on drugs used to treat neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. These conditions are estimated to affect 3 to 10% of adults, and are difficult to treat. Although they probably have different aetiologies, neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia can respond to the same therapies.

Interventions for the reduction of prescribed opioid use in chronic non-cancer pain.

Background: Patients with chronic non-cancer pain who are prescribed and are taking opioids can have a history of long term high dose opioid use without effective pain relief. In those without good pain relief, reduction of prescribed opioid dose may be the desired and shared goal of both patient and clinician. Simple unsupervised reduction of opioid use is clinically challenging, and very difficult to achieve and maintain.

Chlamydia screening practices among physicians and community nurses in Yukon, Canada.

Background: Yukon, a territory in northern Canada, has one of the highest reported sexually transmitted chlamydia infection rates in the country.

Objective: We examined screening practices among physicians and community nurses to elucidate factors that may be contributing to the high rates.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Opioids for the management of persistent non-cancer pain.

Persistent non-cancer pain is a serious problem. This article outlines issues in the management of patients with severe pain who are using strong opioids. These analgesics can provide analgesia and improve quality of life without a need for an escalating dose.

Chronic pain management--can we do better? An interview-based survey in primary care.

Background: Persisting pain is demoralising and debilitating for patients and their carers. Most patients with chronic pain do not need the services of a specialised pain clinic and are appropriately managed by their general practitioner (GP).

Method: Interviewers approached 569 GPs to assess their satisfaction with the management of patients with chronic non-malignant (i.

The role of peripheral sudomotor blockade in the treatment of patients with sympathetically maintained pain.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of the peripheral cholinergic system in patients with sympathetically maintained pain (SMP). Thirty-three patients with SMP were given Bier's block with 0.6 mg of atropine in 10 ml of saline or 10 ml of saline in a randomised double-blind manner.