The Role of Opioids in the Treatment of Chronic Pain

September 29-30, 2014 Natcher Auditorium, NIH Campus, Bethesda, Maryland

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the prescribing of opioids by clinicians has increased threefold in the last 20 years, contributing to the problem of prescription opioid abuse.¹ Today, the number of people who die from prescription opioids exceeds the number of those who die from heroin and cocaine, combined.

Healthcare providers are in a difficult position when treating moderate to severe chronic pain; opioid treatments may lessen the pain, but may also cause harm to patients. Additionally, there has not been adequate testing of opioids in terms of what types of pain they best treat, in what populations of people, and in what manner of administration. With insufficient data, and often inadequate training, many clinicians prescribe too much opioid treatment when lesser amounts of opioids or non-opioids would be effective. Alternatively, some healthcare providers avoid prescribing opioids altogether for fear of side effects and potential addiction, causing some patients to suffer needlessly.

The 2014 NIH Pathways to Prevention workshop on The Role of Opioids in the Treatment of Chronic Pain will seek to clarify:

• Long-term effectiveness of opioids for treating chronic pain
• Potential risks of opioid treatment in various patient populations
• Effects of different opioid management strategies on outcomes related to addiction, abuse, misuse, pain, and quality of life
• Effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies for opioid treatment
• Future research needs and priorities to improve the treatment of pain with opioids.

The workshop is sponsored by the NIH Office of Disease Prevention and the NIH Pain Consortium.

Initial planning for each Pathways to Prevention workshop is coordinated by a Working Group that nominates panelists and speakers, and develops and finalizes questions that frame the workshop. After finalizing the questions, an evidence report is prepared by an Evidence-based Practice Center through a contract with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). During the 1½-day workshop, invited experts discuss the body of evidence, and attendees have opportunities to provide comments during open discussion periods. After weighing evidence from the evidence report, expert presentations, and public comments, an unbiased, independent panel will prepare a draft report that identifies research gaps and future research priorities. The draft report is posted on the ODP website, and public comments are accepted for 2 weeks. The final report is then released approximately 2 weeks later.

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 2000-2010 on CDC WONDER Online Database. Extracted February 11, 2013.