8 Questions on Opioids for Chronic Pain Management Based on New VA / DoD Guidelines
The 2022 VA/DoD Guidelines on use of opioids in the management of non-cancer chronic pain and the recent synopsis of the guidelines in the Annals of Internal Medicine emphasize the importance of behavioral health assessment for all patients with chronic pain, and particularly before initiating, and periodically during treatment with opioids.
Like similar guidelines from the CDC, the VA/DoD guidelines recommend that opioids be avoided for chronic pain management when other interventions are effective, but they also recognize that opioid analgesia may be necessary for some patients.
In such cases, the VA/DoD guidelines make the novel recommendation that use of buprenorphine, a partial agonist at the µ-opioid receptor, may be a safer alternative with less risk of misuse.
Try this short quiz on the specific VA/DoD guideline recommendations and use of buprenorphine.
For further information, see the US Veterans Affairs / Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline for the Use of Opioids in the Management of Chronic Pain, and the separate Buprenorphine formulations for chronic pain management in patients with opioid use disorder or on long-term opioid therapy with physiologic tolerance recommendations for use.
