Narcotic addiction in patients with chronic pain.
The notes of 717 patients attending the Regional Pain Relief Unit, Abingdon, were reviewed. One hundred and thirty patients (18%) were taking narcotic analgesics. Of these, 74 were suffering from cancer and 56 (9.7%) had chronic benign pain. Nine patients were considered to be addicted to their analgesics. Nine men and five women were able to discontinue their narcotic analgesics as a result of therapy. All of these patients had been receiving oral agents for more than one year.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D012306:Risk
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid