Articles Tagged With: opioids
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Opioids Not Better for Chronic Back Pain
Chronic use of opioids for management of back pain is controversial and hotly debated. This randomized trial showed no benefit of opioids over multimodality non-opioid treatments, consistent with many other observational studies.
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Advanced Management of Opioid Overdose in the Emergency Department
This article aims to provide acute care providers with advanced techniques in the management of opioid overdoses, including the use of naloxone, the opioid receptor antagonist, as well as harm reduction management strategies aimed at long-term risk mitigation in this vulnerable population.
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Pediatric Pain Management in the Emergency Department
Pain management in the pediatric population has long been a focus of healthcare providers; nevertheless, gaps in providing adequate and timely pain management remain an area of concern in EDs. This article will provide guidance for the recognition and successful management of pediatric pain in the ED setting. The authors first present definitions of pain and discuss the assessment of pain in a child, as well as common barriers to appropriate pediatric pain management in the ED. Then, the article will focus on the different aspects of pain and techniques of managing discomfort, including: anxiolysis, non-pharmacological strategies, topical medications, oral analgesics, parenteral medications, discharge medications, and misconceptions and facts about opioid analgesics. Pain control in conjunction with procedural sedation is beyond the scope of this article.
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Excessive Prescriptions Result in $17.6M Award In Compensatory and Punitive Damages
In 2008, a 45-year-old man’s primary care physician began prescribing powerful and highly addictive pain pills for lower-back pain. The pain pills, known as opioids, are prescribed at alarming levels for millions of patients in the United States, which results in frequent addiction and serious side effects.
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HHS May Change HCAHPS for Pain Care
HHS is proposing a change to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey to address complaints that healthcare providers were penalized if they appropriately limited pain medications.
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The Joint Commission Defends Standards Under Fire as Opioid Abuse Grows
TJC has clarified its position on pain management, and it is underscoring its belief that drugs are not always required to manage pain. The statement followed a letter sent by more than 60 non-profit groups and medical experts to TJC that asked it to revisit its pain management standards.
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Strategies for Prescribing Opioids Appropriately
Prescription opiate abuse and misuse has become a growing epidemic recently, and the problem seems to be propagating without an immediate end in sight. It is known that prescription opiate abuse has clear links to heroin abuse (which also has become increasingly more prevalent), and, in some instances, primary care physicians may be adding fuel to the proverbial fire.