Postmortem toxicology findings from the Camden Opioid Research Initiative.

The United States continues to be impacted by decades of an opioid misuse epidemic, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and by the growing prevalence of highly potent synthetic opioids (HPSO) such as fentanyl. In instances of a toxicity event, first-response administration of reversal medications such as naloxone can be insufficient to fully counteract the effects of HPSO, particularly when there is co-occurring substance use. In an effort to characterize and study this multi-faceted problem, the Camden Opioid Research Initiative (CORI) has been formed.

Patient Perceptions and Potential Utility of Pharmacogenetic Testing in Chronic Pain Management and Opioid Use Disorder in the Camden Opioid Research Initiative.

Pharmacogenetics (PGx) has the potential to improve opioid medication management. Here, we present patient perception data, pharmacogenetic data and medication management trends in patients with chronic pain (arm 1) and opioid use disorder (arm 2) treated at Cooper University Health Care in Camden City, NJ. Our results demonstrate that the majority of patients in both arms of the study (55% and 65%, respectively) are open to pharmacogenetic testing, and most (66% and 69%, respectively) believe that genetic testing has the potential to improve their medical care.

The Genomics of Opioid Addiction Longitudinal Study (GOALS): study design for a prospective evaluation of genetic and non-genetic factors for development of and recovery from opioid use disorder.

Background: The opioid use disorder and overdose crisis in the United States affects public health as well as social and economic welfare. While several genetic and non-genetic risk factors for opioid use disorder have been identified, many of the genetic associations have not been independently replicated, and it is not well understood how these factors interact. This study is designed to evaluate relationships among these factors prospectively to develop future interventions to help prevent or treat opioid use disorder.

The importance of medical education in the changing field of pain medicine.

Suffering chronic pain is a global epidemic that requires a closer look on how we are educating trainees to become more effective in pain management. The vast majority of medical professionals will encounter treatment of pain throughout their career. Our current system for educating these medical professionals is flawed in a number of ways.

Advances in translational neuropathic research: example of enantioselective pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling of ketamine-induced pain relief in complex regional pain syndrome.

Historically, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) was poorly defined, which meant that scientists and clinicians faced much uncertainty in the study, diagnosis, and treatment of the syndrome. The problem could be attributed to a nonspecific diagnostic criteria, unknown pathophysiologic causes, and limited treatment options. The two forms of CRPS still are painful, debilitating disorders whose sufferers carry heavy emotional burdens.

Deep cervical plexus block for the treatment of cervicogenic headache.

Background: Cervicogenic headache descriptors include its unilateral nature, "signs and symptoms linking it to the neck," and trauma of the neck. Since the pain often occurs over the C2 or C3 nerve root, we used a modification of the deep cervical block technique for treatment of this refractory type headache.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of a modified deep cervical block for treatment of cervicogenic headache.