Non Narcotic Pain Management

Alternative to Opioids


The alarming statistics about prescription opiate use and related morbidity and mortality have been discussed both in the press and the medical and scientific literature a great deal in recent years. The past fifteen years have seen the dire consequences associated with prescription opiate use skyrocket. Accordingly, new guidelines have evolved that are particularly important for primary care physicians and pharmacists alike. Among the most recently published guidelines targeting primary care doctors are those recently published by the CDC in 2016.  

A key point is that the CDC calls for the use of non-pharmacologic and non-opioid therapeutics BEFORE initiating treatment with opiates for patients with non-cancer chronic pain. CeutiCare offers a suite of non-opioid algorithms for the pharmacotherapeutic management of chronic pain. This approach has been used in a cohort of approximately 60 clinic patients with pain scores and quality of life (QoL) scores improving by about 20%, WHILE morphine equivalent doses declined also by about 20%.

In addition, a recently published paper in JAMA in June, 2016 (JAMA 2016:315 (22) 2415-2423 doi.10.1001/jama.2016.7789) describing the outcomes of a retrospective study conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University compared outcomes among patients treated with long-acting opioids versus patients treated with non-opioid pharmacotherapy. Compared to non-opioid pharmacotherapy, long-acting opioids:

  • increased all cause mortality by approximately 69%
  • increased out-of-hospital mortality by about 67%
  • increased unintentional death by about 20%
  • increased cardiovascular-related deaths by about 29%
  • increased respiratory-related mortality by about 7%

These findings post-date the CDC guidelines that were published earlier in the year, but certainly add credence to those guidelines.

  • Neuropathic pain (Nerve pain)
  • Muscle pain/spasms
  • Depression associated pain

Solution


The same software that improves outcomes for patients with chronic clinical conditions has algorithms to help patients manage their chronic pain without opioids.  CeutiCare has also implemented a weaning protocol to help patients reduce or eliminate their dependency on opioids.  


These non-opiate algorithms include treatments directed toward:


  • Oxidative stress
  • Breakthrough pain
  • Inflammation
  • Lipid-associated inflammation


Please contact CeutiCare for more information about how to implement this program.