Opioid Regulation of Social Homeostasis: Connecting Loneliness to Addiction.

Loneliness heightens the risk of substance use disorder, and a desire to escape this negative feeling motivates drug use. Opioid drugs in particular are believed to target neurobiological circuits involved in social bonding, increasing vulnerability to opioid addiction when social connectedness is lacking. In this narrative review we consider how current understanding of μ-opioid modulation of reward and threat processing across domains sheds light on the mechanisms linking loneliness and substance use.

Hyperalgesia in Patients With a History of Opioid Use Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Short-term and long-term opioid treatment have been associated with increased pain sensitivity (ie, opioid-induced hyperalgesia). Treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) mainly involves maintenance with methadone and buprenorphine, and observations of heightened cold pain sensitivity among patients are often considered evidence of opioid-induced hyperalgesia.

Objective: To critically examine the evidence that hyperalgesia in patients with OUD is related to opioid use.

Factors associated with use of opioid rescue medication after surgery.

Background: Opioid exposure after surgery increases risk of persistent opioid use. Here, we characterize at-home use of opioid rescue medication during 1-2 days after outpatient surgery (N=270) in a postoperative opioid-sparing context at a Norwegian hospital.

Methods: The postsurgical pain management plan included non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and up to six pills of 5 mg oxycodone as rescue analgesics.

Opioid analgesic effects on subjective well-being in the operating theatre.

Exposure to opioid analgesics due to surgery increases the risk of new persistent opioid use. A mechanistic hypothesis for opioids' abuse liability rests on the belief that, in addition to pain relief, acute opioid treatment improves well-being (e.g.