Evaluation of Buprenorphine Rotation in Patients Receiving Long-term Opioids for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.

Importance: Individuals with chronic pain who use long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) are at risk of opioid use disorder and other harmful outcomes. Rotation to buprenorphine may be considered, but the outcomes of such rotation in this population have not been systematically reviewed.

Objective: To synthesize the evidence on rotation to buprenorphine from full μ-opioid receptor agonists among individuals with chronic pain who were receiving LTOT, including the outcomes of precipitated opioid withdrawal, pain intensity, pain interference, treatment success, adverse events or adverse effects, mental health condition, and health care use.

Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain: Overview of the 2017 US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline.

Description: The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and US Department of Defense (DoD) revised the 2010 clinical practice guideline (CPG) for the management of opioid therapy for chronic pain, considering the specific needs of the VA and DoD and new evidence regarding prescribing opioid medication for non-end-of-life-related chronic pain. This paper summarizes the major recommendations and compares them with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guideline for prescribing opioids.

Patient Population: This Opioid Therapy CPG was developed for VA-DoD service members, veterans, and their families.

Management of Postoperative Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American Pain Society, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists' Committee on Regional Anesthesia, Executive Committee, and Administrative Council.

Unlabelled: Most patients who undergo surgical procedures experience acute postoperative pain, but evidence suggests that less than half report adequate postoperative pain relief. Many preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative interventions and management strategies are available for reducing and managing postoperative pain. The American Pain Society, with input from the American Society of Anesthesiologists, commissioned an interdisciplinary expert panel to develop a clinical practice guideline to promote evidence-based, effective, and safer postoperative pain management in children and adults.

Measurement of adherence to clinical practice guidelines for opioid therapy for chronic pain.

The safe and effective prescribing of opioid therapy for chronic pain has become a significant health care priority over the last several years. Substantial research has focused on patient-oriented interventions toward preventing problematic use, but provider and system level factors may be more amenable to quality improvement approaches. Here, we outline administrative data-based metrics that are intended to assess adherence to key practices outlined in the 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline for management of opioid therapy for chronic pain.

Update on the status of 89 drug information centers in the United States.

Purpose: Previously identified U.S. drug information centers (DICs) were surveyed to determine whether they were still in existence and whether changes had occurred in the DICs since 2003.

Social connectedness and patient recovery after major operations.

Background: Social connectedness is thought to play an important role in overall health and well being. We hypothesized that social network size and other measures of social connectedness would predict perceived pain intensity, unpleasantness, and anxiety in veterans recovering after major thoracic or abdominal operations and influence postoperative complications and length of stay.

Study Design: Six hundred five patients from two Veterans Affairs' medical centers who participated in a randomized controlled trial of massage as adjuvant treatment for postoperative pain were the subjects of this study.

Acute postoperative pain management using massage as an adjuvant therapy: a randomized trial.

Hypothesis: Adjuvant massage therapy improves pain management and postoperative anxiety among many patients who experience unrelieved postoperative pain. Pharmacologic interventions alone may not address all of the factors involved in the experience of pain.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Patients' use and perception of medication information leaflets.

Background: Federal law mandates that at least 95% of patients receive useful written information with new medications. Recent data concerning whether patients read such leaflets are lacking.

Objectives: To evaluate whether patients read non-manufacturer-developed leaflets and assess patients' opinions concerning the understandability and usefulness of these leaflets.

Use of statins and gemfibrozil in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular risk factors attending adult day health care centers: an opportunity for pharmacists.

Objective: Identify the extent of statin use for primary prevention of macrovascular complications, the extent of statin or gemfibrozil use for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and the statin doses used in patients with type 2 diabetes and other cardiovascular risk factors.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Three adult day health care centers in Brooklyn and Queens, New York.

Overview of Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit: potential implications for patients with psychotic disorders.

Purpose: Medicare Part D prescription drug benefits are reviewed. Potential implications for patients with psychotic disorders in relation to Medicare Part D are discussed.

Summary: The newly created Medicare Part D provides prescription drug benefits to many individuals formerly without prescription benefits and, possibly, lower-cost benefits to those who previously relied on other benefits.

Drug information education in doctor of pharmacy programs.

Objective: To characterize pharmacy program standards and trends in drug information education.

Methods: A questionnaire containing 34 questions addressing general demographic characteristics, organization, and content of drug information education was distributed to 86 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the United States using a Web-based survey system.

Results: Sixty colleges responded (73% response rate).

Availability of and attitudes toward resources on alternative medicine products in the community pharmacy setting.

Objective: To examine the availability of resources on dietary supplements in the community pharmacy setting and to assess the attitudes of community pharmacists toward these resources.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Community pharmacies in New York and New Jersey that serve as experiential sites for senior student pharmacists at the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University.

Current status of pharmacist-operated drug information centers in the United States.

Purpose: Pharmacist-operated drug information centers (DICs) in the United States and Puerto Rico were surveyed, and the results were compared with those of similar surveys conducted over the past 30 years.

Methods: In January 2003, surveys were mailed to 151 institutions that were thought to have an organized DIC, defined as a center that regularly accepts a broad scope of requests from health care professionals, regardless of the location or affiliation of those professionals. The survey covered such topics as affiliations, staffing, services, resources, quality assurance, involvement in education, and funding.

Rapid improvement in pain management: the Veterans Health Administration and the institute for healthcare improvement collaborative.

Background: Poor pain management persists in health care. Although common practice errors in pain management have been identified and standards and guidelines for pain management have been published, improvement has been modest. With the goal of rapid improvement in pain management, a joint Collaborative (Veterans Health Administration and Institute for Healthcare Improvement) was conducted from May 2000 to January 2001.

Weight variability of pharmacist-dispensed split tablets.

Objective: To determine the level of weight uniformity of fragments from tablets split into halves and dispensed by pharmacists.

Design: Pre-post comparison.

Setting: Laboratory analysis of split tablets returned unused from four long-term care facilities.