Drug use evaluation of opioid analgesics in pain management among patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Endogenous opiates and behavior: 2020

This paper is the forty-third consecutive installment of the annual anthological review of research concerning the endogenous opioid system, summarizing articles published during 2020 that studied the behavioral effects of molecular, pharmacological and genetic manipulation of opioid peptides and receptors as well as effects of opioid/opiate agonists and antagonists. The review is subdivided into the following specific topics: molecular-biochemical effects and neurochemical localization studies of endogenous opioids and their receptors (1), the roles of these opioid peptides and receptors in pain and analgesia in animals (2) and humans (3), opioid-sensitive and opioid-insensitive effects of nonopioid analgesics (4), opioid peptide and receptor involvement in tolerance and dependence (5), stress and social status (6), learning and memory (7), eating and drinking (8), drug abuse and alcohol (9), sexual activity and hormones, pregnancy, development and endocrinology (10), mental illness and mood (11), seizures and neurologic disorders (12), electrical-related activity and neurophysiology (13), general activity and locomotion (14), gastrointestinal, renal and hepatic functions (15), cardiovascular responses (16), respiration and thermoregulation (17), and immunological responses (18).

Pain, Fatigue, Nausea, and Vomiting as the Predictors of Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Prospective Cohort Study

The primary outcome was to assess the correlation between anxiety and pain, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. The secondary outcome was to determine the predictive roles of pain, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting in anxiety among patients undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). The present prospective cohort study was conducted on 200 patients treated by HSCT referred to the centers affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The data were collected using Spielberger Anxiety Questionnaire, Numerical Pain Scale, Brief Fatigue Inventory, and Rhodes Nausea and Vomiting Index. The data were analyzed using Spearman’s test and multiple regression analysis. The means of state anxiety, trait anxiety, pain, fatigue, and nausea, vomiting, and retching were 41.67 (SD = 9.71), 43.78 (SD = 9.00), 3.79 (SD = 2.79), 4.23 (SD = 2.48), and 6.31 (SD = 7.53), respectively. The results showed that the participants with higher pain and fatigue scores had higher anxiety levels. Those with more nausea and vomiting had higher anxiety levels, as well. This indicated that fatigue, pain, severity and frequency of nausea, and type of HSCT were the predictors of trait anxiety. The results also showed the predictor role of pain, fatigue, and type of HSCT in state anxiety. The findings revealed a correlation between anxiety and pain, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting among the HSCT patients. The results also showed fatigue and pain as the predictors of anxiety among these patients. Yet, future studies are recommended to determine the other factors contributing to anxiety amongst HSCT patients.

Opioid Prescribing and Use Among Cancer Survivors: A Mapping Review of Observational and Intervention Studies

CONTEXT

Recent years show a sharp increase in research on opioid use among cancer survivors, but evidence syntheses are lacking, leaving knowledge gaps. Corresponding research needs are unclear.

OBJECTIVES

To provide an evidence synthesis.

METHODS

We searched PubMed and Embase, identifying articles related to cancer, and opioid prescribing/use published through September 2020. We screened resulting titles/abstracts. Relevant studies underwent full-text review. Inclusion criteria were quantitative examination of and primary focus on opioid prescribing or use, and explicit inclusion of cancer survivors. Exclusion criteria included end-of-life opioid use and opioid use as a secondary or downstream outcome (for intervention studies). We extracted information on the opioid-related outcome(s) examined (including definitions and terminology used), study design, and methods.

RESULTS

Research returned 16,591 articles; 296 were included. Only 22 of 296 studies evaluated an intervention. There were 105 studies evaluating outcomes indicative of potentially high-risk, nonrecommended, or avoidable opioid use, e.g., continuous use-described as chronic use, prolonged use, and persistent use (n = 17); use after completion of curative-intent treatment-described as chronic opioid use, long-term opioid use, persistent opioid use, prolonged opioid use, continued opioid use, late opioid use, post-treatment opioid use (n = 27); use of opioids concurrent with other potentially high-risk medications (n = 13), and opioid misuse (n = 14).

CONCLUSIONS

We found lack of consistency in the measurement of and terms used to describe similar opioid use outcomes, and a lack of interventional research targeting well-documented patterns of potentially nonrecommended, potentially avoidable, or potentially high-risk opioid prescribing or use.

The analgesic effect and inflammatory mechanism of nonsteroidal analgesics combined with nerve block in post-gynecologic surgery patients

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the analgesic effect and inflammatory mechanism of nonsteroidal analgesics combined with nerve block in post-gynecologic surgery patients.

METHODS

Sixty patients who underwent gynecological laparotomies in our hospital were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study, with 30 patients administered nonsteroidal analgesics combined with nerve block (the observation group) and 30 patients administered nonsteroidal analgesics alone (the control group). The patients in the observation group were administered an intravenous injection of flurbiprofen axetil 1 mg/kg before the end of the operation, and 0.375% ropivacaine was used for bilateral transversus abdominis plane block after the operation. The patients in the control group were administered only an intravenous injection of flurbiprofen axetil 1 mg/kg before the end of the operation. The blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, and the numerical rating scale (NRS) scores were recorded before the operation (T0) and at 1 h (T1), 6 h (T2), 12 h (T3), and 24 h (T4) after the recovery from the anesthesia. The incidences of emergence agitation, and the operation and recovery times in the two groups were recorded. Blood samples were collected before and at one day after the operations to measure the inflammatory factor levels such as IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α.

RESULTS

The BP, HR, and the VAS and NRS scores in the observation group at T1, T2, T3, and T4 were lower than they were in the control group (P<0.01). The inflammatory factor levels after the operation in the observation group were lower than they were in the control group (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the incidences of complications between the two groups (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION

Flurbiprofen axetil combined with ropivacaine for bilateral transversus abdominis plane block has a significant analgesic effect on patients after gynecologic surgery. The mechanism may be due to the fact that nonsteroidal analgesics combined with nerve block further reduce the inflammatory factors in the body, which proves the superiority of multimodal analgesia.