Contemporary trends in acute pain management

Effect of aromatherapy with Damask rose on alleviating adults' acute pain severity: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Although recent studies have investigated the analgesic activity of Damask rose using aromatherapy in different painful conditions, the results are inconclusive. Hence, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify the effect of aromatherapy with Damask rose on adults' acute pain.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The online databases of MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, ISI web of science, Embase, ProQuest, CENTRAL, CINAHL, SID, and MagIran were searched up to August 10, 2020. The aim of this study was to find randomized controlled trials on the effect of aromatherapy with Damask rose in any form of administration (inhalation, vapor diffusion, and massage) on different types of acute pain in adults. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. Moreover, the quality of the evidence was evaluated by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Random effects model was applied to pool data using Stata.

RESULTS

A total of 16 studies met the inclusion criteria, of which only one was not included in the meta-analysis. Pooled analysis revealed that aromatherapy with Damask rose reduced the pain severity significantly (WMD: -2.12; 95% CI [-2.85, -1.40]; P < 0.001). Inhalation aromatherapy (WMD: -2.39; 95% CI [-3.31, -1.48]; P < 0.001) and aromatherapy massage (WMD: -1.16; 95% CI [-1.57, -0.75]; P < 0.001) also had significant effects on pain reduction. The quality of evidence was low.

CONCLUSION

Aromatherapy with Damask rose had a favourable effect on reducing the severity of acute pain in adults. However, there is insufficient evidence for the clinical benefits of aromatherapy with Damask rose due to the low-quality evidence. Accordingly, more high quality randomized clinical trials are needed to make an evidence-based conclusion.

Prevalent Misconceptions About Opioid Use Disorders in the United States Produce Failed Policy and Public Health Responses

The current opioid crisis in the United States has emerged from higher demand for and prescribing of opioids as chronic pain medication, leading to massive diversion into illicit markets. A peculiar tragedy is that many health professionals prescribed opioids in a misguided response to legitimate concerns that pain was undertreated. The crisis grew not only from overprescribing, but also from other sources, including insufficient research into nonopioid pain management, ethical lapses in corporate marketing, historical stigmas directed against people who use drugs, and failures to deploy evidence-based therapies for opioid addiction and to comprehend the limitations of supply-side regulatory approaches. Restricting opioid prescribing perversely accelerated narco-trafficking of heroin and fentanyl with consequent increases in opioid overdose mortality As injection replaced oral consumption, outbreaks of hepatitis B and C virus and human immunodeficiency virus infections have resulted. This viewpoint explores the origins of the crisis and directions needed for effective mitigation.

Discovery of SHR9352: A Highly Potent G Protein-Biased μ-Opioid Receptor Agonist

Recently, targeting the G protein-biased signaling has emerged as an attractive therapeutic strategy for treating severe acute pain with the potential to reduce the side effect of the traditional opioid drug. Herein, we describe the discovery of a highly potent G protein-biased μ-opioid receptor (MOR) agonist, SHR9352. This novel molecule exhibited excellent MOR activity and limited β-arrestin recruitment, as well as a high selectivity over κ-opioid receptor and δ-opioid receptor demonstrated robust in vivo efficacy and displayed favorable pharmacokinetic properties across species.

Pain management in dermatologic procedures: before and after

BACKGROUND

Periprocedural analgesic therapy is an often overlooked, but critical component of ensuring adequate surgical patient care and overall satisfaction with surgical outcomes. Adequate pain management requires thorough assessment of pain and complete knowledge and understanding of the various therapeutic agents available.

OBJECTIVES

To further the knowledge and understanding of current strategies in pain management.

METHODS

A literature review was conducted through PubMed to define current pain assessment and management strategies.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Appropriate pain assessment leads to the selection of optimal pharmacologic options for pain control in the acute postoperative setting.

Continuous multimechanistic postoperative analgesia: a rationale for transitioning from intravenous acetaminophen and opioids to oral formulations

Good surgical outcomes depend in part on good pain relief, allowing for early mobilization, optimal recovery, and patient satisfaction. Postsurgical pain has multiple mechanisms, and multimechanistic approaches to postoperative analgesia are recommended and may be associated with improved pain relief, lowered opioid doses, and sometimes a lower rate of opioid-associated side effects. Acetaminophen (paracetamol) is a familiar agent for treating many types of pain, including postsurgical pain. Oral acetaminophen has been shown to be safe and effective in a variety of acute pain models. Combination products using a fixed-dose of acetaminophen and an opioid have also been effective in treating postsurgical pain. Combination products with acetaminophen have demonstrated an opioid-sparing effect, which inconsistently results in a reduced rate of opioid-associated side effects. Intravenous (IV) acetaminophen and an opioid analgesic administered in the perioperative period may be followed by an oral acetaminophen and opioid combination in the postoperative period. Transitioning from an IV acetaminophen and opioid formulation to a similar but oral formulation of the same drugs appears to be a reasonable step in that both analgesic therapies are known to be safe and effective. For postsurgical analgesia with any acetaminophen product, patient education is necessary to be sure that the patient does not concurrently take any over-the-counter products containing acetaminophen and accidentally exceed dose limits.

Prescription analgesic use among young adults: adherence to physician instructions and diversion

OBJECTIVES

To understand the extent to which medication adherence was related to diversion of prescription analgesics.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analyses of data from the College Life Study, a prospective study of young adults.

SETTING

Participants were originally sampled as incoming first-time first-year college students from one large public university in the Mid-Atlantic United States.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred ninety-two young adults aged 21-26 who were prescribed an analgesic to treat acute pain in the past year.

OUTCOME MEASURE

Diversion of prescription analgesics. The study tested two competing hypotheses: 1) individuals who skip doses (under-users) are at greatest risk for diversion because they have leftover medication; and 2) individuals who over-use their prescriptions (over-users) are at greatest risk for diversion, perhaps because of a general propensity to engage in deviant behavior.

RESULTS

Fifty-eight percent followed physician's instructions regarding their prescription analgesic medication; 27% under-used their prescribed medication and 16% over-used their prescribed medication. Twenty-seven percent of the total sample diverted their medication, with over-users being the most likely to divert (63%). Holding constant demographic characteristics and perceived harmfulness of nonmedical use, over-users were almost five times as likely as adherent users to divert analgesic medications (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between adherence and diversion. If these findings are replicated, physicians who are involved in pain management for acute conditions among young adults should take steps to monitor adherence and reduce diversion of prescription analgesics.

Clinical pain management peri-operative scenarios

This article reinforces the clinical points of emphasis that have been stressed throughout this issue in a case scenario format. Common situations dealt with by physicians are examined to highlight the underlying physiology of the specific complaints and treatment interventions. The goal of this article is to present an evidenced-based review of pain management interventions in a format that allows for reader incorporation.

Peri-operative pain management

Surgery is a circumstance in which we know that we will cause pain. Although most of our perioperative pain management interventions are symptomatic, several strategies can reduce and even prevent pain in the perioperative setting. Because the physiologic mechanisms of postoperative pain are understood, it is possible to interrupt these mechanisms before the patient actually becomes symptomatic. This article reviews the literature and presents these strategies with the hope of implementation of the readers.

Nepafenac ophthalmic suspension 0.1% for the prevention and treatment of ocular inflammation associated with cataract surgery

PURPOSE

To determine whether nepafenac ophthalmic suspension 0.1% decreases the incidence and severity of inflammation and pain after cataract surgery with posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation.

SETTING

Twenty-one ophthalmology clinics in the United States.

METHODS

A randomized double-blind vehicle-controlled trial was conducted in which adult patients were randomly assigned to receive nepafenac 0.1% or vehicle beginning 1 day before surgery and continuing on the day of surgery (day 0) for 14 days. Patients were evaluated on days 1, 3, 7, and 14. The primary efficacy variable was the percentage of patients cured at day 14 (cure defined as aqueous cells score + aqueous flare score = 0). Other efficacy variables included percentage of patients who were pain free at all visits and aqueous cells, flare, and cells plus flare scores.

RESULTS

The mean age of the 476 patients (243 nepafenac, 233 vehicle) was 70 years (range 27 to 93 years). At day 14, 152 patients (62.6%) in the nepafenac group and 40 (17.2%) in the vehicle group were cured (P<.0001). A higher percentage of patients in the nepafenac group was pain free at all visits (P<.0001). Throughout the study, most nepafenac-treated patients were pain free (83.1% to 93.0%) compared with less than half the vehicle-treated patients (41.6% to 46.4%). The nepafenac group had lower mean aqueous cells, flare, and cells plus flare scores at all visits (P<.0001). No treatment-related ocular adverse events occurred in either group.

CONCLUSION

Nepafenac ophthalmic suspension 0.1% was safe and effective for preventing and treating ocular inflammation and pain associated with cataract surgery.