Chronic Opioid Therapy and Central Sensitization in Sickle Cell Disease

Publication date: July 2016 Source:American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 51, Issue 1, Supplement 1 Author(s): C. Patrick Carroll, Sophie Lanzkron, Carlton Haywood, Kasey Kiley, Megan Pejsa, Gyasi Moscou-Jackson, Jennifer A. Haythornthwaite, Claudia M. Campbell Chronic opioid therapy (COT) for chronic non-cancer pain is frequently debated, and its effectiveness is unproven in sickle cell disease (SCD). The authors conducted a descriptive study among 83 adult SCD patients and compared the severity of disease and pain symptoms among those who were prescribed COT (n=29) with those who were not using COT. All patients completed baseline laboratory pain assessment and questionnaires between January 2010 and June 2014. Thereafter, participants recorded daily pain, crises, function, and healthcare utilization for 90 days using electronic diaries. Analyses were conducted shortly after the final diary data collection period. Patients on COT did not differ on age, sex, or measures of disease severity. However, patients on COT exhibited greater levels of clinical pain (particularly non-crisis); central sensitization; and depression and increased diary measures of pain severity, function, and healthcare utilization on crisis and non-crisis diary days, as well as a greater proportion of days in crisis. Including depressive symptoms in multivariate models did not change the associations between COT and pain, interference, central sensitization, or utilization. ...
Source: American Journal of Preventive Medicine - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research