1 Opioids in different pain conditions
Access to pain management has been recognized as a fundamental human right [1]. Benefits of adequate pain relief are clear and well established as are, on the other hand, problems created by absent or ineffective pain management. Acute pain, cancer-related pain and chronic non-cancer pain are the three big entities within the pain field. There are, of course, similarities and overlap but there are also important differences in terms of mechanisms and treatment approach.
Severe chronic non-cancer pain is a complex biopsychosocial condition. Chronic pain has lost its original function as a warning signal. It causes suffering, loss on function and decrease in quality of life. Treatment of chronic pain is based on combination of non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment best provided in a multidisciplinary environment. The role of opioids is well established in acute (postoperative) pain and pain related to advanced cancer. Situation is less clear when considering opioids for chronic non-cancer pain. Opioids may not be the best choice for patients with chronic non-cancer pain.
2 Primum non nocere
From acute pain and cancer pain, the use of opioids has spread to treatment of chronic non-cancer pain over the past 20 years. However, current evidence provides no support for long-term use of opioids in chronic non-cancer pain [2,3,4,5]. Available studies are short and do not provide data to support clinical decision making concerning when, how and for whom to start opioid therapy for chronic pain. Clinical guidelines on opioid therapy for chronic pain recommend non-opioid analgesics as preferred therapy for chronic non-cancer pain, and focus on risk evaluation and reduction of harm of opioid therapy [3,4]. A common conclusion is that more data are needed to better evaluate long-term efficacy, patient selection and dosing for chronic opioid therapy [2,3,4,5].
The downsides of long-term opioid use seem far more clear. Hand in hand with increasing opioid consumption the number of reports on adverse effects and even mortality related to opioids have increased with alarming rate [2,3,4,5]. This is especially the case for the USA [6]. Baseline data from an Australian cross-sectional study indicated that long-term opioid use was related to depression, decreased function, ability to work and employment. Despite opioid medication, the participants reported average pain intensity of 5.1 on scale 0–10 [7]. The benefit of opioid medication in this patient population was not evident. Function and quality of life is low in patients with chronic pain even without opioids [8]. The possibility of further decrease in their condition by adverse effects of opioid therapy is an unsettling prospect.
3 The way forward
Many types of studies are needed to provide enough data for clinical decision making on opioid therapy. Large randomized controlled studies with long follow-ups are difficult to perform. In this issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Pain Karin Elsesser and Thomas Cegla [9] report the results of a cross-sectional observational study on patients using opioids compared to patients on non-opioid analgesics. The authors looked at pain, quality of life and psychological variables in 333 patients. They found that there was no difference in pain intensity between patients on opioids and patients on non-opioid analgesics. Even more importantly, patients on opioids reported lower function, wellbeing, and quality of life compared with patients on non-opioids. As an observational study, the present paper cannot prove causality between opioid therapy and reported low levels of function and quality of life. However, higher opioid doses were not associated better pain relief compared to lower opioid doses. The results fit well with previous population studies [10,11].
From clinical practice, we know that some patients do better after they are weaned from long-term opioid. An interesting possibility to investigate the role of opioids in reported low function and quality of life of chronic pain patients could be to wean a group of patients from long-term opioid and compare them to a group of patients continuing on opioids.
Present data give rather pessimistic view on long-term opioid therapy. There are patients who will benefit from long-term opioid. It is just not clear how we can identify these patients. Exposing susceptible patients to risks of long-term opioid in a study is not ethical. Randomized controlled trials are perhaps not the only way forward here [5]. One possibility could be pooling large amounts of data from population studies and comparing details of those who do well with details of those who do not benefit from opioid therapy. New ideas and perspectives are urgently needed.
DOI of refers to article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sjpain.2017.07.005.
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Conflict of interest: None declared.
References
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© 2017 Scandinavian Association for the Study of Pain
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- Observational study
- Perceived sleep deficit is a strong predictor of RLS in multisite pain – A population based study in middle aged females
- Clinical pain research
- Prospective, double blind, randomized, controlled trial comparing vapocoolant spray versus placebo spray in adults undergoing intravenous cannulation
- Clinical pain research
- The Functional Barometer — An analysis of a self-assessment questionnaire with ICF-coding regarding functional/activity limitations and quality of life due to pain — Differences in age gender and origin of pain
- Clinical pain research
- Clinical outcome following anterior arthrodesis in patients with presumed sacroiliac joint pain
- Observational study
- Chronic disruptive pain in emerging adults with and without chronic health conditions and the moderating role of psychiatric disorders: Evidence from a population-based cross-sectional survey in Canada
- Educational case report
- Management of patients with pain and severe side effects while on intrathecal morphine therapy: A case study
- Clinical pain research
- Behavioral inhibition, maladaptive pain cognitions, and function in patients with chronic pain
- Observational study
- Comparison of patients diagnosed with “complex pain” and “somatoform pain”
- Original experimental
- Patient perspectives on wait times and the impact on their life: A waiting room survey in a chronic pain clinic
- Topical review
- New evidence for a pain personality? A critical review of the last 120 years of pain and personality
- Clinical pain research
- A multi-facet pain survey of psychosocial complaints among patients with long-standing non-malignant pain
- Clinical pain research
- Pain patients’ experiences of validation and invalidation from physicians before and after multimodal pain rehabilitation: Associations with pain, negative affectivity, and treatment outcome
- Observational study
- Long-term treatment in chronic noncancer pain: Results of an observational study comparing opioid and nonopioid therapy
- Clinical pain research
- COMBAT study – Computer based assessment and treatment – A clinical trial evaluating impact of a computerized clinical decision support tool on pain in cancer patients
- Original experimental
- Quantitative sensory tests fairly reflect immediate effects of oxycodone in chronic low-back pain
- Editorial comment
- Spatial summation of pain and its meaning to patients
- Original experimental
- Effects of validating communication on recall during a pain-task in healthy participants
- Original experimental
- Comparison of spatial summation properties at different body sites
- Editorial comment
- Behavioural inhibition in the context of pain: Measurement and conceptual issues
- Clinical pain research
- A randomized study to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of a single dose of the TRPV1 antagonist mavatrep in patients with osteoarthritis
- Editorial comment
- Quantitative sensory tests (QST) are promising tests for clinical relevance of anti–nociceptive effects of new analgesic treatments
- Educational case report
- Pregabalin as adjunct in a multimodal pain therapy after traumatic foot amputation — A case report of a 4-year-old girl
- Editorial comment
- Severe side effects from intrathecal morphine for chronic pain after repeated failed spinal operations
- Editorial comment
- Opioids in chronic pain – Primum non nocere
- Editorial comment
- Finally a promising analgesic signal in a long-awaited new class of drugs: TRPV1 antagonist mavatrep in patients with osteoarthritis (OA)
- Observational study
- The relationship between chronic musculoskeletal pain, anxiety and mindfulness: Adjustments to the Fear-Avoidance Model of Chronic Pain
- Clinical pain research
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- Editorial comment
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- Editorial comment
- Broadening the fear-avoidance model of chronic pain?
- Observational study
- Identifying characteristics of the most severely impaired chronic pain patients treated at a specialized inpatient pain clinic
- Editorial comment
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- Editorial comment
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- Editorial comment
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- Topical review
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- Editorial comment
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- Clinical pain research
- PhKv a toxin isolated from the spider venom induces antinociception by inhibition of cholinesterase activating cholinergic system
- Clinical pain research
- Lateral Cutaneous Nerve Entrapment Syndrome (LACNES): A previously unrecognized cause of intractable flank pain
- Editorial comment
- Towards a structured examination of contextual flexibility in persistent pain
- Clinical pain research
- Context sensitive regulation of pain and emotion: Development and initial validation of a scale for context insensitive avoidance
- Editorial comment
- Is the search for a “pain personality” of added value to the Fear-Avoidance-Model (FAM) of chronic pain?
- Editorial comment
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- Editorial comment
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- Clinical pain research
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- Clinical pain research
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- Observational study
- The use of rapid onset fentanyl in children and young people for breakthrough cancer pain
- Original experimental
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- Original experimental
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- Clinical pain research
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- Clinical pain research
- Central sensitization associated with low fetal hemoglobin levels in adults with sickle cell anemia
- Topical review
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- Original experimental
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- Original experimental
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- Clinical pain research
- Chronic low back pain and the transdiagnostic process: How do cognitive and emotional dysregulations contribute to the intensity of risk factors and pain?
- Original experimental
- The impact of the Standard American Diet in rats: Effects on behavior, physiology and recovery from inflammatory injury
- Educational case report
- Erector spinae plane (ESP) block in the management of post thoracotomy pain syndrome: A case series
- Original experimental
- Hyperbaric oxygenation alleviates chronic constriction injury (CCI)-induced neuropathic pain and inhibits GABAergic neuron apoptosis in the spinal cord
- Observational study
- Predictors of chronic neuropathic pain after scoliosis surgery in children
- Clinical pain research
- Hospitalization due to acute exacerbation of chronic pain: An intervention study in a university hospital
- Clinical pain research
- A novel miniature, wireless neurostimulator in the management of chronic craniofacial pain: Preliminary results from a prospective pilot study
- Clinical pain research
- Implicit evaluations and physiological threat responses in people with persistent low back pain and fear of bending
- Original experimental
- Unpredictable pain timings lead to greater pain when people are highly intolerant of uncertainty
- Original experimental
- Initial validation of the exercise chronic pain acceptance questionnaire
- Clinical pain research
- Exploring patient experiences of a pain management centre: A qualitative study
- Clinical pain research
- Narratives of life with long-term low back pain: A follow up interview study
- Observational study
- Pain catastrophizing, perceived injustice, and pain intensity impair life satisfaction through differential patterns of physical and psychological disruption
- Clinical pain research
- Chronic pain disrupts ability to work by interfering with social function: A cross-sectional study
- Original experimental
- Evaluation of external vibratory stimulation as a treatment for chronic scrotal pain in adult men: A single center open label pilot study
- Observational study
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- Clinical pain research
- Visualization of painful inflammation in patients with pain after traumatic ankle sprain using [11C]-D-deprenyl PET/CT
- Original experimental
- Developing a model for measuring fear of pain in Norwegian samples: The Fear of Pain Questionnaire Norway
- Topical review
- Psychoneuroimmunological approach to gastrointestinal related pain
- Letter to the Editor
- Do we need an updated definition of pain?
- Narrative review
- Is acetaminophen safe in pregnancy?
- Book Review
- Physical Diagnosis of Pain
- Book Review
- Advances in Anesthesia
- Book Review
- Atlas of Pain Management Injection Techniques
- Book Review
- Sedation: A Guide to Patient Management
- Book Review
- Basics of Anesthesia