Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: I n the time it takes to read this article, at least one person in the United States will have died from an opioid overdose.1 From 1999 through 2017, more than 700,000 U.S. residents died from a drug overdose; the majority of these events involved an opioid. 2 Among persons between the ages of 24 and 34 years, one in five deaths is now related to opioid use. 3 Every opioid-related death represents a missed opportunity for prevention.In this review, we focus on prescriber strategies for overdose prevention in three groups of patients: those who have not received previous opioid therapy, those receiving long-term opioid therapy, and those with an opioid use disorder. R educing Ov er dose R isk in Initi a l Opioid Ther a pyAll opioid overdoses share a common characteristic: a first opioid exposure.Although this exposure often occurs independent of a health care interaction (e.g., experimentation with a medication prescribed to a friend or relative), prescribers should strive "to keep opioid-naive patients opioid-naive."4 For mild or moderate acute pain, nonopioid regimens are the preferred first-line therapy.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2948074701