Applied Evidence

Tips and tools for safe opioid prescribing

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This review—with tables summarizing opioid options, dosing considerations, and recommendations for tapering—will help you provide rigorous Tx for noncancer pain while ensuring patient safety.

PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS

› Use a screening instrument such as the Opioid Risk Tool or the DIRE assessment to gauge a patient’s risk of opioid misuse and determine the frequency of monitoring. C

› Give as much priority to improving functional activity and minimizing adverse opioid effects as you do to relieving pain. C

› Prescribe an immediate-release, short-acting agent at first instead of a long-acting formulation; start with the lowest effective dosage and calculate total daily dose in terms of morphine milligram equivalents (MME). C

› Reduce the original MME dose by 5% to 10% every week when discontinuing an opioid. C

Strength of recommendation (SOR)

A Good-quality patient-oriented evidence
B Inconsistent or limited-quality patient-oriented evidence
C Consensus, usual practice, opinion, disease-oriented evidence, case series


 

References

CASE

Marcelo G* is a 46-year-old man who presented to our family medicine clinic with a complex medical history including end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and hemodialysis, chronic anemia, peripheral vascular disease, venous thromboembolism and anticoagulation, major depressive disorder, osteoarthritis, and lumbosacral radiculopathy. His current medications included vitamin B complex, cholecalciferol, atorvastatin, warfarin, acetaminophen, diclofenac gel, and capsaicin cream. Mr. G reported bothersome bilateral knee and back pain despite physical therapy and consistent use of his current medications in addition to occasional intra-articular glucocorticoid injections. He mentioned that he had benefited in the past from intermittent opioid use.

How would you manage this patient’s care?

*The patient’s name has been changed to protect his identity.

In 2013, an estimated 191 million prescriptions for ­opioids were written by health care providers, which is the equivalent of all adults living in the United States having their own opioid prescription.1 This large expansion in opioid prescribing and use has also led to a rise in opioid overdose deaths, whether from prescribed or illicit use.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) points out that each day, approximately 128 Americans die from an opioid overdose.1 Deaths that occur from opioid overdose often involve the prescribed opioids methadone, oxycodone, and hydrocodone, the illicit opioid heroin, and, of particular concern, prescription and illicit fentanyl.1

Pills spilling out of pill bottle IMAGE: © JOE GORMAN

Family physicians write more opioid prescriptions than any other specialty, and they are therefore uniquely positioned to protect patients, improve the quality of their care, and ultimately produce a meaningful public health impact.

The extent of this problem has sparked the development of health safety initiatives and research efforts. Through production quotas, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reduced the number of opioids produced across all schedule I and schedule II lists in 2017 by as much as 25%.2 The DEA again reduced the amounts produced in 2018.3 For 2020, the DEA has determined that the production quotas and assessment of annual needs are sufficient.4

The CDC has also promoted access to naloxone and prevention initiatives; pharmacies in some states have standing orders for naloxone, and medical personnel and law enforcement now carry it.1,5 Finally, new research has identified risk factors that influence one’s potential for addiction, such as mental illness, history of substance and alcohol abuse, and a low income.6 Interestingly, while numerous initiatives and strategies have been implemented across health systems, there is little evidence that demonstrates how implementation of safe prescribing strategies has affected overall patient safety and avoidance of opioid-related harms.

Nevertheless, concerns related to ­opioids are especially important for primary care ­providers, who manage many patients with acute and chronic diseases and disorders that require pain control.7 Family physicians write more opioid prescriptions than any ­other specialty,8 and they are therefore uniquely positioned to protect patients, improve the quality of their care, and ultimately produce a meaningful public health impact. This article provides a guide to safe opioid prescribing.

Continue to: Use the patient interview to ensure that Tx aligns with patient goals

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