Scientist claim few chronic pain sufferers develop opioid addictions
New research has suggested the medical practitioners can prescribe opioids to patients with chronic pain without fear of causing addiction.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University Medical School in the US presented findings to the American Pain Society annual meeting that showed that only a very small percentage of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain went on to develop addiction.
The researchers showed that less than three per cent of patients with no history of drug abuse who take opioids for their chronic pain end up demonstrating signs of drug abuse or dependence.
"Physicians today face a dilemma in trying to balance the needs of their patients with demands from society for better control of opioid medications," Dr Srinivasa Raja told the conference.
"We also are dealing with unfounded accusations in the media that increased prescribing of opioids for severe chronic pain is responsible in large part for reported upswings in the abuse of pain medications."
Dr Raja said doctors needed to work to explain "the benefits and risks of opioids" and potentially "screen them for drug-seeking behaviour and other warning signs of potential abuse".
A spokeswoman for the Arthritis Research Campaign said that opioids may be useful for controlling pain in a very small number of people with severe osteoarthritis, but other pain management techniques such as weight loss, exercise and physiotherapy, plus the use of paracetamol, were more important.
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