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Pain and Chemical Dependency News
The aim of this study is to characterize patients with chronic pain in methadone
maintenance treatment (MMT). Chronic pain was defined as current pain lasting
for >/=6 months. The patients' maintenance methadone dosage and urine tests
for drug abuse during the month before and of the survey were recorded. Of the
170 patients, 94 (55.3%) experienced chronic pain. They had a significantly
higher proportion of chronic illness (74.5%) compared to non-pain patients (44.7%)
(Fisher's Exact Test P<0.0005). Twelve (12.8%) of the chronic pain patients
scored their pain as mild, 38 (40.4%) as moderate, 22 (23.4%) as severe and
22 (23.4%) as very severe. Pain duration significantly correlated with pain
severity (Pearson R=0.3, P>0.0005) and was significantly associated with
methadone daily dosage: patients with pain duration of >/=10 years (n=26)
were receiving the highest methadone dosage (182.1+/-59.2mg/day), those with
pain duration from 1 to 10 years (n=59) 160.9+/-56.2mg/day, and those with pain
duration of <1 year (n=9) 134.2+/-73.2mg/day. Patients in the non-pain group
(n=76) were receiving 147.1+/-52.8mg/day of methadone (ANOVA, F=3.1, P=0.03).
We conclude that pain duration and severity significantly correlated. Although
methadone was not prescribed for the treatment of pain but rather for opiate
addiction, the patients in the MMT clinic with prolonged pain were prescribed
a significantly higher methadone dosage compared to patients with short pain
duration, and non-pain patients.
Peles E, Schreiber S, Gordon J, Adelson M. Pain. 2005 Feb;113(3):340-6.
PubMed Abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15661442
Credit: All abstracts retrieved from PubMed, developed by the National Center for
Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the
National Library of Medicine (NLM).
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