The opioid crisis has brought added scrutiny to opioid prescribing, particularly to health care providers, whom many blame for the genesis of the opioid overdose epidemic. Family physicians are acutely aware of these complexities: By sheer volume, family physicians prescribe more opioid analgesics than any other subspecialist.1
Overwhelmed by opioid prescriptions
Because of a complexity of factors (notably, the influence of the US pharmaceutical industry), the quantity of opioid prescriptions has risen substantially—enough so that, in 2010, opioids were prescribed in great enough quantity to medicate every American around the clock for a month.2 Among people who began abusing opioids in the 2000s, 75% reported that their first opioid was a prescription drug; this is a shift from prior decades, when heroin was the gateway to opioid addiction.3 As the reality of the size of the opioid problem sunk in, many were hopeful that the epidemic would reverse itself as quickly as it began if the medical community would simply prescribe fewer opioids.
©Stuart Bradford
Since 2010, the opioid overdose fatality rate has risen dramatically, even though prescription opioid overdose mortality has leveled off, or even declined. 2 One explanation for this paradox? As availability of prescription opioids declined, people suffering from an underlying opioid use disorder (OUD) turned instead first to heroin, then later to potent fentanyl analogues to fuel their addiction. In most communities, the prevalence of fentanyl analogues—alone or more commonly mixed with other opioids—has driven the staggering rise in opioid-related fatalities in recent years.
No question: Prescription opioids played a critical role in the origins of this epidemic, but just withdrawing prescriptions will not result in marked reduction in the epidemic. This quandary is no more apparent than in primary care, where the considerable risk of continuing opioids—especially at high dosages—must be weighed against the potential risks of discontinuation. Adding to this dilemma are lack of access to treatment for patients with an OUD and the continued stigma and misunderstanding of substance use disorders.
In this article, we describe the challenges of long-term opioid use and review necessary protocols and precautions for maintaining or tapering an opioid regimen in patients who suffer chronic pain.
Managing chronic pain is fraught with complexity
Chronic pain is both real and a disease in its own right. Although definitions of chronic pain vary, pain that lasts > 3 months or past the duration of normal tissue healing is typically considered chronic.4 Approximations of prevalence vary, but in 1 study that examined a representative sample, it was estimated that 14.6% of US adults experience chronic pain.5
Patients who report symptoms or a history of chronic pain can elicit negative reactions from physicians—stemming from our biases, which can inadvertently provoke emotions on our part.6 Unflattering portrayals of patients in the media can further fuel unwarranted biases and prejudices.7
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