Introduction
Background
Opioids are commonly prescribed for pain. An estimated 20% of patients presenting to physician offices with noncancer pain symptoms or pain-related diagnoses (including acute and chronic pain) receive an opioid prescription (1). In 2012, health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid pain medication, enough for every adult in the United States to have a bottle of pills (2). Opioid prescriptions per capita increased 7.3% from 2007 to 2012, with opioid prescribing rates increasing more for family practice, general practice, and internal medicine compared with other specialties (3). Rates of opioid prescribing vary greatly across states in ways that cannot be explained by the underlying health status of the population, highlighting the lack of consensus among clinicians on how to use opioid pain medication (2).
Prevention, assessment, and treatment of chronic pain are challenges for health providers and systems. Pain might go unrecognized, and patients, particularly members of racial and ethnic minority groups, women, the elderly, persons with cognitive impairment, and those with cancer and at the end of life, can be at risk for inadequate pain treatment (4). Patients can experience persistent pain that is not well controlled. There are clinical, psychological, and social consequences associated with chronic pain including limitations in complex activities, lost work productivity, reduced quality of life, and stigma, emphasizing the importance of appropriate and compassionate patient care (4). Patients should receive appropriate pain treatment based on a careful consideration of the benefits and risks of treatment options.
Bạn đang xem: CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain — United States, 2016
Chronic pain has been variably defined but is defined within this guideline as pain that typically lasts >3 months or past the time of normal tissue healing (5). Chronic pain can be the result of an underlying medical disease or condition, injury, medical treatment, inflammation, or an unknown cause (4). Estimates of the prevalence of chronic pain vary, but it is clear that the number of persons experiencing chronic pain in the United States is substantial. The 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey estimated that 14.6% of adults have current widespread or localized pain lasting at least 3 months (6). Based on a survey conducted during 2001-2003 (7), the overall prevalence of common, predominantly musculoskeletal pain conditions (e.g., arthritis, rheumatism, chronic back or neck problems, and frequent severe headaches) was estimated at 43% among adults in the United States, although minimum duration of symptoms was not specified. Most recently, analysis of data from the 2012 National Health Interview Study showed that 11.2% of adults report having daily pain (8). Clinicians should consider the full range of therapeutic options for the treatment of chronic pain. However, it is hard to estimate the number of persons who could potentially benefit from opioid pain medication long term. Evidence supports short-term efficacy of opioids for reducing pain and improving function in noncancer nociceptive and neuropathic pain in randomized clinical trials lasting primarily ≤12 weeks (9,10), and patients receiving opioid therapy for chronic pain report some pain relief when surveyed (11–13). However, few studies have been conducted to rigorously assess the long-term benefits of opioids for chronic pain (pain lasting >3 months) with outcomes examined at least 1 year later (14). On the basis of data available from health systems, researchers estimate that 9.6-11.5 million adults, or approximately 3%-4% of the adult U.S. population, were prescribed long-term opioid therapy in 2005 (15).
Opioid pain medication use presents serious risks, including overdose and opioid use disorder. From 1999 to 2014, more than 165,000 persons died from overdose related to opioid pain medication in the United States (16). In the past decade, while the death rates for the top leading causes of death such as heart disease and cancer have decreased substantially, the death rate associated with opioid pain medication has increased markedly (17). Sales of opioid pain medication have increased in parallel with opioid-related overdose deaths (18). The Drug Abuse Warning Network estimated that >420,000 emergency department visits were related to the misuse or abuse of narcotic pain relievers in 2011, the most recent year for which data are available (19). Although clinical criteria have varied over time, opioid use disorder is a problematic pattern of opioid use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress. This disorder is manifested by specific criteria such as unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control use and use resulting in social problems and a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home (20). This diagnosis has also been referred to as “abuse or dependence” and “addiction” in the literature, and is different from tolerance (diminished response to a drug with repeated use) and physical dependence (adaptation to a drug that produces symptoms of withdrawal when the drug is stopped), both of which can exist without a diagnosed disorder. In 2013, on the basis of DSM-IV diagnosis criteria, an estimated 1.9 million persons abused or were dependent on prescription opioid pain medication (21). Having a history of a prescription for an opioid pain medication increases the risk for overdose and opioid use disorder (22–24), highlighting the value of guidance on safer prescribing practices for clinicians. For example, a recent study of patients aged 15-64 years receiving opioids for chronic noncancer pain and followed for up to 13 years revealed that one in 550 patients died from opioid-related overdose at a median of 2.6 years from their first opioid prescription, and one in 32 patients who escalated to opioid dosages >200 morphine milligram equivalents (MME) died from opioid-related overdose (25).
Xem thêm : 11 Questions To Ask a Travel Nurse Recruiter Before Taking on a New Career
This guideline provides recommendations for the prescribing of opioid pain medication by primary care clinicians for chronic pain (i.e., pain conditions that typically last >3 months or past the time of normal tissue healing) in outpatient settings outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. Although the guideline does not focus broadly on pain management, appropriate use of long-term opioid therapy must be considered within the context of all pain management strategies (including nonopioid pain medications and nonpharmacologic treatments). CDC’s recommendations are made on the basis of a systematic review of the best available evidence, along with input from experts, and further review and deliberation by a federally chartered advisory committee. The guideline is intended to ensure that clinicians and patients consider safer and more effective treatment, improve patient outcomes such as reduced pain and improved function, and reduce the number of persons who develop opioid use disorder, overdose, or experience other adverse events related to these drugs. Clinical decision making should be based on a relationship between the clinician and patient, and an understanding of the patient’s clinical situation, functioning, and life context. The recommendations in the guideline are voluntary, rather than prescriptive standards. They are based on emerging evidence, including observational studies or randomized clinical trials with notable limitations. Clinicians should consider the circumstances and unique needs of each patient when providing care.
Rationale
Primary care clinicians report having concerns about opioid pain medication misuse, find managing patients with chronic pain stressful, express concern about patient addiction, and report insufficient training in prescribing opioids (26). Across specialties, physicians believe that opioid pain medication can be effective in controlling pain, that addiction is a common consequence of prolonged use, and that long-term opioid therapy often is overprescribed for patients with chronic noncancer pain (27). These attitudes and beliefs, combined with increasing trends in opioid-related overdose, underscore the need for better clinician guidance on opioid prescribing. Clinical practice guidelines focused on prescribing can improve clinician knowledge, change prescribing practices (28), and ultimately benefit patient health.
Professional organizations, states, and federal agencies (e.g., the American Pain Society/American Academy of Pain Medicine, 2009; the Washington Agency Medical Directors Group, 2015; and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense, 2010) have developed guidelines for opioid prescribing (29–31). Existing guidelines share some common elements, including dosing thresholds, cautious titration, and risk mitigation strategies such as using risk assessment tools, treatment agreements, and urine drug testing. However, there is considerable variability in the specific recommendations (e.g., range of dosing thresholds of 90 MME/day to 200 MME/day), audience (e.g., primary care clinicians versus specialists), use of evidence (e.g., systematic review, grading of evidence and recommendations, and role of expert opinion), and rigor of methods for addressing conflict of interest (32). Most guidelines, especially those that are not based on evidence from scientific studies published in 2010 or later, also do not reflect the most recent scientific evidence about risks related to opioid dosage.
This CDC guideline offers clarity on recommendations based on the most recent scientific evidence, informed by expert opinion and stakeholder and public input. Scientific research has identified high-risk prescribing practices that have contributed to the overdose epidemic (e.g., high-dose prescribing, overlapping opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions, and extended-release/long-acting [ER/LA] opioids for acute pain) (24,33,34). Using guidelines to address problematic prescribing has the potential to optimize care and improve patient safety based on evidence-based practice (28), as well as reverse the cycle of opioid pain medication misuse that contributes to the opioid overdose epidemic.
Scope and Audience
This guideline is intended for primary care clinicians (e.g., family physicians and internists) who are treating patients with chronic pain (i.e., pain lasting >3 months or past the time of normal tissue healing) in outpatient settings. Prescriptions by primary care clinicians account for nearly half of all dispensed opioid prescriptions, and the growth in prescribing rates among these clinicians has been above average (3). Primary care clinicians include physicians as well as nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Although the focus is on primary care clinicians, because clinicians work within team-based care, the recommendations refer to and promote integrated pain management and collaborative working relationships with other providers (e.g., behavioral health providers, pharmacists, and pain management specialists). Although the transition from use of opioid therapy for acute pain to use for chronic pain is hard to predict and identify, the guideline is intended to inform clinicians who are considering prescribing opioid pain medication for painful conditions that can or have become chronic.
This guideline is intended to apply to patients aged ≥18 years with chronic pain outside of palliative and end-of-life care. For this guideline, palliative care is defined in a manner consistent with that of the Institute of Medicine as care that provides relief from pain and other symptoms, supports quality of life, and is focused on patients with serious advanced illness. Palliative care can begin early in the course of treatment for any serious illness that requires excellent management of pain or other distressing symptoms (35). End-of-life care is defined as care for persons with a terminal illness or at high risk for dying in the near future in hospice care, hospitals, long-term care settings, or at home. Patients within the scope of this guideline include cancer survivors with chronic pain who have completed cancer treatment, are in clinical remission, and are under cancer surveillance only. The guideline is not intended for patients undergoing active cancer treatment, palliative care, or end-of-life care because of the unique therapeutic goals, ethical considerations, opportunities for medical supervision, and balance of risks and benefits with opioid therapy in such care.
The recommendations address the use of opioid pain medication in certain special populations (e.g., older adults and pregnant women) and in populations with conditions posing special risks (e.g., a history of substance use disorder). The recommendations do not address the use of opioid pain medication in children or adolescents aged <18 years. The available evidence concerning the benefits and harms of long-term opioid therapy in children and adolescents is limited, and few opioid medications provide information on the label regarding safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients. However, observational research shows significant increases in opioid prescriptions for pediatric populations from 2001 to 2010 (36), and a large proportion of adolescents are commonly prescribed opioid pain medications for conditions such as headache and sports injuries (e.g., in one study, 50% of adolescents presenting with headache received a prescription for an opioid pain medication) (37,38). Adolescents who misuse opioid pain medication often misuse medications from their own previous prescriptions (39), with an estimated 20% of adolescents with currently prescribed opioid medications reporting using them intentionally to get high or increase the effects of alcohol or other drugs (40). Use of prescribed opioid pain medication before high school graduation is associated with a 33% increase in the risk of later opioid misuse (41). Misuse of opioid pain medications in adolescence strongly predicts later onset of heroin use (42). Thus, risk of opioid medication use in pediatric populations is of great concern. Additional clinical trial and observational research is needed, and encouraged, to inform development of future guidelines for this critical population.
The recommendations are not intended to provide guidance on use of opioids as part of medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. Some of the recommendations might be relevant for acute care settings or other specialists, such as emergency physicians or dentists, but use in these settings or by other specialists is not the focus of this guideline. Readers are referred to other sources for prescribing recommendations within acute care settings and in dental practice, such as the American College of Emergency Physicians’ guideline for prescribing of opioids in the emergency department (43); the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ guideline for acute pain management in the perioperative setting (44); the Washington Agency Medical Directors’ Group Interagency Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Pain, Part II: Prescribing Opioids in the Acute and Subacute Phase (30); and the Pennsylvania Guidelines on the Use of Opioids in Dental Practice (45). In addition, given the challenges of managing the painful complications of sickle cell disease, readers are referred to the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Evidence Based Management of Sickle Cell Disease Expert Panel Report for management of sickle cell disease (46).
Nguồn: https://buycookiesonline.eu
Danh mục: Info
