[Opioids for treating non malignant chronic pain: the role of methadone.].

Opioid switching to methadone: a pharmacoepidemiological study from a national prescription database.

BACKGROUND Opioid switching to methadone is reported frequently to improve pain control in patients with an unacceptable balance between pain control and side effects during treatment with first line opioids, but carries a risk of drug accumulation and respiratory depression. To justify this risk it is required that less risky treatments are tried beforehand and that a sufficiently large propor...

Spine-Related Pain in Sports Medicine Outpatient Interventional Treatments for Migraines and Pain Flare-ups Identifying Abusers Prior to Initiating Chronic Opioid Therapy Urine Drug Tests in a Private Chronic Pain Practice Role of SR Opioids in Treating Chronic Pain

A qualitative evidence synthesis to explore healthcare professionals’ experience of prescribing opioids to adults with chronic non-malignant pain

BACKGROUND Despite recent guidelines suggesting that patients with chronic non-malignant pain might not benefit, there has been a significant rise in opioid prescription for chronic non-malignant pain. This topic is important because an increasing number of HCPs are prescribing opioids despite very limited evidence for long-term opioid therapy for chronic non-malignant pain outside of end-of-li...

Acute pain management in opioid-tolerant patients: a growing challenge.

In Australia and New Zealand, in parallel with other developed countries, the number of patients prescribed opioids on a long-term basis has grown rapidly over the last decade. The burden of chronic pain is more widely recognised and there has been an increase in the use of opioids for both cancer and non-cancer indications. While the prevalence of illicit opioid use has remained relatively sta...

Methadone Dosing Recommendations for Treatment of Chronic Pain

− Methadone is a safe and effective long-acting opioid analgesic that is useful in managing chronic pain. − Although it has unique pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, the general principles of dosing methadone are similar to those of other opioids. − In general, as with other opioids, methadone should be used as one aspect of a comprehensive pain management plan, as agreed upon by t...