BETHESDA, MD – When opioids first received Food and Drug Administration approval, it was for short-term use in management of acute pain. With time, these agents have become a mainstay of long-term management of chronic pain. A systematic review of the literature shows that there are no data on long-term opioid use. The longest placebo controlled randomized controlled trial being 6 months. There are ample data showing risk risks of over dose, abuse, and addiction associated with long-term opioid use for chronic pain, according to Dr. Roger Chou, director of the Pacific Northwest Evidence-based Practice Center and professor of medicine in the department of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, who lead the review. The National Institutes of Health commissioned the review to reveal the gaps in clinical data related to long-term opioid use.
To watch Dr. Chou discuss the data gaps, watch his interview with senior reporter Elizabeth Mechcatie.