The CDC recently released guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain. This particular guidance was created to assist primary care providers who are presently treating adults with chronic pain. The guidelines do not include directions for cancer, palliative, and end-of-life care patients. With that said, if you are a patient, doctor, or a caregiver, it is important to be well educated in what the CDC suggests.

The hope is to improve communication between the health care provider and the patient. For instance, there are benefits and risks to be considered when opioids are used as the chosen course to treat chronic pain.

Also, a better understanding of the safety and effectiveness of these drugs might improve the treatment results. Lastly, with the improvements mentioned, even the risks associated with long-term opioid therapy (opioid use disorder and overdose) may be reduced or even thwarted.

The 12-point CDC recommendations are broken down into three sections:

Determining when to initiate or continue opioids for chronic pain
Opioid Selection, Dosage, Duration, Follow-Up, and Discontinuation
Assessing Risk and Addressing Harms of Opioid Use

For your perusal, below we have included the 12 points, along with the respective section groupings. For a digression of each point, please see the CDC, Recommendations and Reports, March 18, 2016, 65(1);1–49. Whether you are a patient, doctor, caregiver, or just from sheer curiosity, we hope this will help you have a better understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of opioid use for chronic pain.

Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain

Determining When to Initiate or Continue Opioids for Chronic Pain

1. Nonpharmacologic therapy and nonopioid pharmacologic therapy are preferred for chronic pain. Clinicians should consider opioid therapy only if expected benefits for both pain and function are anticipated to outweigh risks to the patient. If opioids are used, they should be combined with nonpharmacologic therapy and nonopioid pharmacologic therapy, as appropriate.2. Before starting opioid therapy for chronic pain, clinicians should establish treatment goals with all patients, including realistic goals for pain and function, and should consider how opioid therapy will be discontinued if benefits do not outweigh risks. Clinicians should continue opioid therapy only if there is clinically meaningful improvement in pain and function that outweighs risks to patient safety.3. Before starting and periodically during opioid therapy, clinicians should discuss with patients known risks and realistic benefits of opioid therapy and patient and clinician responsibilities for managing therapy.
Opioid Selection, Dosage, Duration, Follow-Up, and Discontinuation

4. When starting opioid therapy for chronic pain, clinicians should prescribe immediate-release opioids instead of extended-release/long-acting (ER/LA) opioids.5. When opioids are started, clinicians should prescribe the lowest effective dosage. Clinicians should use caution when prescribing opioids at any dosage, should carefully reassess evidence of individual benefits and risks when considering increasing dosage to ≥50 morphine milligram equivalents (MME)/day, and should avoid increasing dosage to ≥90 MME/day or carefully justify a decision to titrate dosage to ≥90 MME/day.6. Long-term opioid use often begins with treatment of acute pain. When opioids are used for acute pain, clinicians should prescribe the lowest effective dose of immediate-release opioids and should prescribe no greater quantity than needed for the expected duration of pain severe enough to require opioids. Three days or less will often be sufficient; more than seven days will rarely be needed.7. Clinicians should evaluate benefits and harms with patients within 1 to 4 weeks of starting opioid therapy for chronic pain or of dose escalation. Clinicians should evaluate benefits and harms of continued therapy with patients every 3 months or more frequently. If benefits do not outweigh harms of continued opioid therapy, clinicians should optimize other therapies and work with patients to taper opioids to lower dosages or to taper and discontinue opioids.
Assessing Risk and Addressing Harms of Opioid Use

8. Before starting and periodically during continuation of opioid therapy, clinicians should evaluate risk factors for opioid-related harms. Clinicians should incorporate into the management plan strategies to mitigate risk, including considering offering naloxone when factors that increase risk for opioid overdose, such as history of overdose, history of substance use disorder, higher opioid dosages (≥50 MME/day), or concurrent benzodiazepine use, are present.9. Clinicians should review the patient’s history of controlled substance prescriptions using state prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) data to determine whether the patient is receiving opioid dosages or dangerous combinations that put him or her at high risk for overdose. Clinicians should review PDMP data when starting opioid therapy for chronic pain and periodically during opioid therapy for chronic pain, ranging from every prescription to every 3 months.10. When prescribing opioids for chronic pain, clinicians should use urine drug testing before starting opioid therapy and consider urine drug testing at least annually to assess for prescribed medications as well as other controlled prescription drugs and illicit drugs.11. Clinicians should avoid prescribing opioid pain medication and benzodiazepines concurrently whenever possible.12. Clinicians should offer or arrange evidence-based treatment (usually medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine or methadone in combination with behavioral therapies) for patients with opioid use disorder.

Source
CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain — United States, 2016, CDC. Retrieved on March 18, 2016.

Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain

Determining When to Initiate or Continue Opioids for Chronic Pain

Opioid Selection, Dosage, Duration, Follow-Up, and Discontinuation

Assessing Risk and Addressing Harms of Opioid Use