Acute Pain

As the main treatment in pain medication opioids are widely prescribed for patients who need them. Balancing that with the risk of addiction and abuse is something providers deal with on a regular basis.

While the idea of developing vaccines to combat health risks like smoking and drug abuse sounds like a solid theory there are legitimate concerns to be addressed in the process.

For close to two decades researchers have been working to develop vaccines to prevent people from health hazards like smoking and drug use. Despite these efforts work remains to find ways to make these effective for a large number of people at risk.

Pain management is everyone's job. It's a human problem.

There have been big steps taken to help combat the opioid abuse epidemic but there is still much more work to be done. Several leading organizations and pharmaceutical companies to help patients with overdose and prevent abuse in the first place.

For patients who do not need opioids or other strong medications for pain management there are other steps that can be taken to help them better manage their symptoms and issues.

One of the biggest concerns in the opioid epidemic is the medications being abused by patients and those who get the drugs through other methods. While technology is being developed to help in this issue getting these changes into the market has been more difficult so far.

The opioid epidemic is clearly a growing problem in the medical community. However, there are concerns that there is so much concern about prescribing opioids that they are not being given who can benefit most from them.

It may seem like opioids could be a “quick fix” for acute low back pain, but introducing the drugs early on increases the risk for dependency and addiction.

While it is clear the opioid abuse problem is not going away, those working in the field are still determined to ensure that the problems of the past do not interfere with success in the future.

As the field of pain medicine advances there is a considerable focus on helping patients get better as well as undoing the damage done by the opioid abuse epidemic. Both problems will likely require a long term approach to be successful.

For some patients, especially on a short term basis opioids may still be the best treatment option. Safely prescribing these medications is the focus of a field looking to help patients without causing problems in other areas.

As it is becoming clearer how dangerous opioids can be for some patients work is being done to find alternatives to help manage pain without as much fear of addiction.

With doctors having busy schedules to begin with it can be difficult to help patients who may have an addiction or issue with opioids. Taking a few extra minutes can sometimes make all the difference in helping these vulnerable patients avoid a much worse scenario.

While looking to find ways to treat patients with pain beyond opioids a considerable amount of research has been done looking at alternative medications and treatments that can provide relief without the potential risks of addiction.

In the struggle against the growing opioid epidemic the CDC recently announced new guidelines aimed at helping guide doctors on when to prescribe this form of medication and what other steps can be done to help patients.

Study results confirm that anxiety and depression before surgery can significantly influence the amount of pain a patient feels after surgery, adding to the evidence that the subjective experience of pain is worth considering, both before and after a pain intervention.

As patients seek help for chronic and acute pain problems doctors and health care professionals continue to seek new treatment options beyond surgery and medication.

With a continually growing opioid addiction new guidelines have been adopted looking to help fight this problem across the population. Some concerns have been raised about whether this will cause doctors to shy away from prescribing the medications for patients who can benefit most from them.

The FDA has approved sumatriptan nasal powder (Onzetra Xsail/Avanir Pharmaceuticals) for treating of adults suffering from acute migraines with or without aura.

Temple University Researchers suggest that a guideline created by Temple University Hospital and Temple University Hospital-Episcopal Campus for prescribing opioids in order to maximize safety and avoid misuse appears to significantly decrease the rate of opioid prescribing for minor and chronic non-cancer pain complaints in an acute care setting.

Readmissions are a concern and a dilemma for hospitals across the nation as the federal government docks facilities when patients are readmitted within 30 days of discharge. It has caused a surge in research about the causes of readmission and strategies to avoid them.

What impact does adult spinal deformity really have on a patient's lives? A recent study aimed to answer this very question.

A recent review provides a sobering picture of the missing clinical links in research regarding current pharmacological treatment for chronic postoperative pain.

Evaluating pain in children can be challenging, in part because of communication challenges with very young children. Due to this and other factors, children's pain is often underestimated and under-treated.

A recent study suggests that pain is inadequately treated in emergency departments, for a variety of reasons.

On the battlefield soldiers can suffer any number of injuries that can lead to a lifetime of painful injuries. How doctors approach that care can affect the quality of life their patients enjoy long after their time in the service is done.

A recent study in the Journal of Pain Research found that placing an electrical stimulation device properly doesn't necessarily increase the pain threshold for health patients subjected to transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). The finding is important because TENS is among many nonpharmacological interventions for pain around which clinical opinion on effectiveness is split.

Female mice models felt pain differently than their male counterparts, according to a study published in Nature Neuroscience.

The number of opioid-related deaths nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2011 in the US; and while that number continues to increase, one state has made positive strides with the implementation of two initiatives.