Management of acute pain

Acute pain is an important fear for most patients and influences their recovery and overall experience. Poorly treated, it could lead to undesirable effects and patient dissatisfaction. Hence, it is important to understand, assess and treat acute pain effectively. Pain is regarded as the fifth vital sign and should be addressed as important as other vital parameters. Management of pain involves team work, including acute pain services, especially in dealing with complex problems. Management of pain ideally starts at the pre-assessment visit or from first presentation to the clinician. It is important to anticipate and treat acute pain effectively, which may prevent the development of chronic pain syndromes. Patients should be given information about analgesic options, the risk:benefit ratio of the treatment options at the earliest opportunity and ideally have an individualized management plan.     

Shifting the Paradigm for Opioid Use Disorder: Changing the Language

Morbidity and mortality associated with opioid use have been on the rise, exemplifying a major public health epidemic. Despite public health interventions, opioid-related morbidity and mortality have yet to plateau or decrease. One explanation for this phenomenon is the presence of barriers to evidence-based pharmacotherapies. Stigma has only recently been identified as a barrier to treatment. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the language used to describe opioid use disorder and associated pharmacologic treatment. Nurse practitioners must emerge as leaders in ensuring that patient-centered and nonstigmatizing language is used to improve patient outcomes.     

Chronic Cancer-Related Pain: Continuous Perineural Infusion of Local Anesthetics as Alternative to Systemic Analgesic Drugs

Pain is a major concern for patients suffering from cancer. Although opioid drugs remain the gold standard for treatment of pain, little is known about the interest of continuous analgesia techniques as alternative. The aim of the present article is to detail the feasibility and to present the diversity of continuous perineural infusion of local anesthetic. A series of five patients suffering from different cancer-related pain is presented. A continuous perineural block was proposed to patients presenting with unbearable pain in an area innervated by a plexus or a nerve despite parenteral analgesic pharmacotherapy. All blocks were performed in a surgical theatre under sterile conditions. An initial bolus dose with 3.75 mg/mL ropivacaine was injected followed by a continuous infusion of 2 mg/mL of ropivacaine. Patient-controlled perineural analgesia was started at home by a nursing network. The technique, the efficacy, and the side effects were reported. Complete pain relief was noted 15 minutes after local anesthetic injection in the five cases, and efficacy was maintained during the following days at home, with no other analgesic treatment required. One patient restarted working a few weeks after catheter insertion. The catheter duration lasted for 12 to 110 days. One catheter was removed because of local anesthetic leak at the puncture point. Some paresthesia was noted in one patient. No other side effect was noted. No infection was reported. In selected patients, continuous perineural infusion of local anesthetics appears to be an attractive alternative to parenteral opioids for cancer-related pain. Further investigation is warranted to better define the place of these techniques in the armamentarium of cancer-related pain treatment.     

Spirituality and the Treatment of the Dually Diagnosed:

Spirituality is a neglected area of study and research in the treatment of addictions. The role of spirituality in the treatment of the dually diagnosed has received particularly scant attention. One hundred and one patients on an in-patient dual-diagnosis unit, as well as the 31 members of the nursing staff who treat them were surveyed. Patients and staff were questioned about their spiritual beliefs and what was the role of spirituality in the patients' recovery from addiction. Staff were questioned about their own spirituality and what they think the patients' level of spirituality is. In addition the staff were asked what they think the patients' view of spiritually is. Results indicate that the patients and staff are equally spiritually oriented. The patients view spirituality as essential to their recovery and value spiritual programming in their treatment more than some concrete items. The nursing staff underestimated both the patients' level of spirituality and this importance placed on spiritual issues. The authors suggest that more attention should be given by staff to spirituality in the treatment of this population.