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Okutani H, Lo Vecchio S, Arendt-Nielsen L. Mechanisms and treatment of opioid-induced pruritus: Peripheral and central pathways. Eur J Pain 2024; 28:214-230. [PMID: 37650457 DOI: 10.1002/ejp.2180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Pruritus (also known as itch) is defined as an unpleasant and irritating sensation of the skin that provokes an urge to scratch or rub. It is well known that opioid administration can cause pruritus, which is paradoxical as itch and pain share overlapping sensory pathways. Because opioids inhibit pain but can cause itching. Significant progress has been made to improve our understanding of the fundamental neurobiology of itch; however, much remains unknown about the mechanisms of opioid-induced pruritus. The prevention and treatment of opioid-induced pruritus remains a challenge in the field of pain management. The objective of this narrative review is to present and discuss the current body of literature and summarize the current understanding of the mechanisms underlying opioid-induced pruritus, and its relationship to analgesia, and possible treatment options. RESULTS The incidence of opioid-induced pruritus differs with different opioids and routes of administration, and the various mechanisms can be broadly divided into peripheral and central. Especially central mechanisms are intricate, even at the level of the spinal dorsal horn. There is evidence that opioid receptor antagonists and mixed agonist and antagonists, especially μ-opioid antagonists and κ-opioid agonists, are effective in relieving opioid-induced pruritus. Various treatments have been used for opioid-induced pruritus; however, most of them are controversial and have conflicting results. CONCLUSION The use of a multimodal analgesic treatment regimen combined with a mixed antagonist and κ agonists, especially μ-opioid antagonists, and κ-opioid agonists, seems to be the current best treatment modality for the management of opioid-induced pruritus and pain. SIGNIFICANCE Opioids remain the gold standard for the treatment of moderate to severe acute pain as well as cancer pain. It is well known that opioid-induced pruritus often does not respond to regular antipruritic treatment, thereby posing a challenge to clinicians in the field of pain management. We believe that our review makes a significant contribution to the literature, as studies on the mechanisms of opioid-induced pruritus and effective management strategies are crucial for the management of these patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroai Okutani
- Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain, SMI, Department of Health Science and Technology, School of Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Hyogo Medical University, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Silvia Lo Vecchio
- Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain, SMI, Department of Health Science and Technology, School of Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Lars Arendt-Nielsen
- Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain, SMI, Department of Health Science and Technology, School of Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
- Steno Diabetes Center North Denmark, Clinical Institute, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
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Wang X, Hua D, Tang X, Li S, Sun R, Xie Z, Zhou Z, Zhao Y, Wang J, Li S, Luo A. The Role of Perioperative Sleep Disturbance in Postoperative Neurocognitive Disorders. Nat Sci Sleep 2021; 13:1395-1410. [PMID: 34393534 PMCID: PMC8354730 DOI: 10.2147/nss.s320745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Postoperative neurocognitive disorder (PND) increases the length of hospital stay, mortality, and risk of long-term cognitive impairment. Perioperative sleep disturbance is prevalent and commonly ignored and may increase the risk of PND. However, the role of perioperative sleep disturbances in PND remains unclear. Nocturnal sleep plays an indispensable role in learning, memory, and maintenance of cerebral microenvironmental homeostasis. Hospitalized sleep disturbances also increase the incidence of postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction. This review summarizes the role of perioperative sleep disturbances in PND and elucidates the potential mechanisms underlying sleep-deprivation-mediated PND. Activated neuroinflammation and oxidative stress; impaired function of the blood-brain barrier and glymphatic pathway; decreased hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor, adult neurogenesis, and sirtuin1 expression; and accumulated amyloid-beta proteins are associated with PND in individuals with perioperative sleep disorders. These findings suggest that the improvement of perioperative sleep might reduce the incidence of postoperative delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Future studies should further investigate the role of perioperative sleep disturbance in PND.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Dongyu Hua
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaole Tang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Shan Li
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Rao Sun
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Zheng Xie
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhiqiang Zhou
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Yilin Zhao
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Jintao Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Shiyong Li
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Ailin Luo
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People's Republic of China
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Rampes S, Ma K, Divecha YA, Alam A, Ma D. Postoperative sleep disorders and their potential impacts on surgical outcomes. J Biomed Res 2019; 34:271-280. [PMID: 32519977 PMCID: PMC7386412 DOI: 10.7555/jbr.33.20190054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Postoperative sleep disturbance is a common occurrence with significant adverse effects on patients including delayed recovery, impairment of cognitive function, pain sensitivity and cardiovascular events. The development of postoperative sleep disturbance is multifactorial and involves the surgical inflammatory response, the severity of surgical trauma, pain, anxiety, the use of anesthetics and environmental factors such as nocturnal noise and light levels. Many of these factors can be managed perioperatively to minimize the deleterious impact on sleep. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment strategies for postoperative sleep disturbance include dexmedetomidine, zolpidem, melatonin, enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol and controlling of environmental noise and light levels. It is likely that a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies will have the greatest impact; however, further research is required before their use can be routinely recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanketh Rampes
- Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, UK
| | - Katie Ma
- Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, UK
| | - Yasmin Amy Divecha
- Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, UK
| | - Azeem Alam
- Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine and Intensive Care, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London SW10 9NH, UK
| | - Daqing Ma
- Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine and Intensive Care, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London SW10 9NH, UK
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Abstract
Previous investigations on acute postoperative pain dynamicity have focused on daily pain assessments, and so were unable to examine intraday variations in acute pain intensity. We analyzed 476,108 postoperative acute pain intensity ratings, which were clinically documented on postoperative days 1 to 7 from 8346 surgical patients using Markov chain modeling to describe how patients are likely to transition from one pain state to another in a probabilistic fashion. The Markov chain was found to be irreducible and positive recurrent, with no absorbing states. Transition probabilities ranged from 0.0031, for the transition from state 10 to state 1, to 0.69 for the transition from state 0 to state 0. The greatest density of transitions was noted in the diagonal region of the transition matrix, suggesting that patients were generally most likely to transition to the same pain state as their current state. There were also slightly increased probability densities in transitioning to a state of asleep or 0 from the current state. An examination of the number of steps required to traverse from a particular first pain score to a target state suggested that overall, fewer steps were required to reach a state of 0 (range 6.1-8.8 steps) or asleep (range 9.1-11) than were required to reach a mild pain intensity state. Our results suggest that using Markov chains is a feasible method for describing probabilistic postoperative pain trajectories, pointing toward the possibility of using Markov decision processes to model sequential interactions between pain intensity ratings, and postoperative analgesic interventions.
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Abstract
This paper is the thirty-sixth consecutive installment of the annual review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system. It summarizes papers published during 2013 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides, opioid receptors, opioid agonists and opioid antagonists. The particular topics that continue to be covered include the molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors related to behavior, and the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia; stress and social status; tolerance and dependence; learning and memory; eating and drinking; alcohol and drugs of abuse; sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology; mental illness and mood; seizures and neurologic disorders; electrical-related activity and neurophysiology; general activity and locomotion; gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions; cardiovascular responses; respiration and thermoregulation; and immunological responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Bodnar
- Department of Psychology and Neuropsychology Doctoral Sub-Program, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY 11367, United States.
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