MPR First Report

At the American Pain Society 29th Annual Scientific Meeting, a panel discussion on methadone prescribing evaluated the risks and benefits of methadone, individual responses to methadone, and concluded with a review of methadone’s potential for cardiotoxicity.

At the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society, Perry G. Fine, MD, of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, defined breakthrough pain as “a transitory pain that lasts seconds or hours, is more severe than the background pain and has a negative effect on function or quality of life.”

Grinding, crushing, crisping, soaking, stirring. These are just some of the techniques drug abusers use to extract opioids from prescription medications. The question is, can opioids be formulated to deter abuse? That was the question addressed by a panel of presenters during the American Pain Society’s 29th Annual Scientific Session here.

Low back pain is one of the top 10 most common reasons for doctor office visits in the United States; approximately 80% of adults seek care at some time for acute low back pain. The differential diagnosis for low back pain and the importance of identifying clinical red and yellow flags during evaluation was presented at the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society.

Appropriate patient selection for opioid use is critical to ensuring patient safety and minimizing the risks associated with opioid use. Healthcare professionals should therefore understand not only their patients’ needs but also the concept of Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS), which can help prevent inappropriate opioid use.

A new brief outcomes instrument will soon be available for assessing pain in individual patients that can also be used in the research setting, those attending the Pharmacotherapy Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting at the American Pain Society’s 29th Annual Scientific Meeting learned.

Subcutaneous methylnaltrexone does not affect pain intensity or analgesic use in patients with chronic nonmalignant pain and opioid-induced constipation, according to a study presented at the American Pain Society’s 29th Annual Scientific Meeting.

Duloxetine 60 mg once daily was effective in reducing chronic low back pain compared with placebo, results of a phase III randomized, double-blind study have shown according to data presented at the American Pain Society’s 29th Annual Scientific Meeting. Perception of improvement was also significantly greater among patients receiving duloxetine.

Tapentadol extended-release (ER), an investigational drug, was associated with better gastrointestinal tolerability in elderly patients with moderate-to-severe chronic pain, with fewer discontinuing the study due to treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) than oxycodone controlled-release (CR), investigators concluded in a presentation during the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society.

Determining an effective opioid dose for chronic pain in patients who become opioid tolerant can be challenging. In fact, effective dosing of a rapid-onset transmucosal opioid for breakthrough pain is not related to the around-the-clock dose, studies have shown. However, few data exist on the effective dose of the more traditional, short-acting oral opioids, according a study presented at the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society.
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