The pathophysiology, incidence, impact, and treatment of opioid-induced nausea and vomiting.

Purpose: Opioid medications are integral in managing acute moderate-to-severe pain. Opioid analgesics bind to μ (mu), κ (kappa), or δ (delta) opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and digestive tract. However, opioids cause adverse effects that may interfere with their therapeutic use.

Multimodal Analgesia for Acute Postoperative and Trauma-Related Pain.

: Multimodal analgesia, which combines analgesic drugs from different classes and employs analgesic techniques that target different mechanisms of pain, is recommended in the treatment of acute postoperative and trauma-related pain because its synergistic effect maximizes pain relief at lower analgesic doses, thereby reducing the risk of adverse drug effects. Using a case-based approach, this article reviews various multimodal analgesic therapies used in the treatment of acute pain; discusses their benefits; and summarizes findings from related research, recommendations from evidence-based practice guidelines, and expert consensus reports.