OBJECTIVES To examine the relationship between nonmedical use of prescription opioids and heroin initiation from childhood to young adulthood, and to test whether certain ages, racial/ethnic, and income groups were at higher risk for this transition. STUDY DESIGN Among a nationally representative sample of US adolescents assessed in the 2004-2011 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health cross-...

BACKGROUND The morbidity and mortality burden of the US opioid epidemic falls heavily on reproductive-age women. Information on the patterns of and sources for non-medical use of prescription opioids among reproductive age women, including pregnant women, will inform public health and prevention efforts to mitigate the effects of the opioid epidemic. This study characterized non-medical use of ...

OBJECTIVE To provide family physicians with a practical clinical summary of opioid prescribing for specific populations based on recommendations from the Canadian Guideline for Safe and Effective Use of Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE Researchers for the guideline conducted a systematic review of the literature, focusing on reviews of the effectiveness and safety of o...

Opioids are the cornerstone of pain treatment in burn patients. Undertreatment of pain has been associated with psychological sequela. However, prescription opioids have been increasingly associated with adverse drug effects. Safe opioid prescribing practices have been established in other populations. The purpose of this study was to explore postdischarge prescribing practices in a regional bu...

Few randomized controlled trials of oral pharmacotherapy have been performed in patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). The prevalence of CRPS is uncertain. Severe and advanced cases of CRPS are easily recognized but difficult to treat and constitute a minority compared with those who meet minimum criteria for the diagnosis. Unsettled disability or liability claims limit pharmaceut...

Critically ill patients often experience pain from an underlying illness or injury, a recent surgical other invasive procedure, various interventions in the intensive care unit (ICU), e.g., endotracheal intubation, vascular access devices, nasogastric tubes, urinary catheters, mechanical ventilation, and routine nursing care, such as repositioning. Opioids remain mainstay medication for control...

Opioids are powerful analgesics when used to treat acute pain and some forms of chronic pain. A large body of literature has shown that opioids can, in addition, also prevent (this review) or induce and perhaps reverse, some forms central sensitisation in in vitro and in vivo animal models of pain. However, the concept of central sensitisation is, at present, ambiguous and the usefulness of opi...

The severity of postoperative pain is affected by many factors including the patient’s age, sex, personality, knowledge of and confidence in the procedure, attitude of the staff, and the individual's physiological condition. The same procedure can produce different degrees of postoperative pain in different patients. Even though, in most cases, upper abdominal or thoracic surgery causes severe ...