Prejudices are the chains forged by ignorance to keep men apart. ~Countess of Blessington
Despite limited evidence of long-term success in using opioid pain medications for chronic back pain, the prescribing of these medications has increased in recent years for back and other chronic pain. The implications are controversial as published studies provide little evidence indicating which patients will benefit from long-term opiod treatment.
New research, published in The Journal of Pain, identifies predictors of long-term opioid use among patients with chronic back pain caused by lumbar spine conditions. Out of 2,110 study participants, 42 percent reported using opioids for pain and a third said they use opioids on a daily basis.
The researchers found that nonsurgical treatmeng and smoking predicted continued long-term opioid use. Smoking can be a marker for substance abuse disorders, though the researchers were not able to consider substance abuse as a predictor of long-term opioid use.
www.thetreatmentcenter.com