Reduced Opioid Analgesic Requirements Via Improved Endogenous Opioid Function
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2019-09-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Chronic Pain (CP) management has increasingly utilized long-term opioid analgesic therapy, a
change associated with increased opioid abuse (via greater exposure in vulnerable
individuals), non-pain health consequences (hormone changes, falls), and a dramatic rise in
opioid-related overdoses and deaths. Treatment strategies that minimize the need for chronic
high-dose opioids are sorely needed. This project will test the novel hypothesis that
effective pain relief can be achieved at lower opioid analgesic doses by increasing levels of
endogenous opioids (EOs).