title: Opioid therapy in chronic pain.
abstract: Opioids remain the strongest and most effective analgesics available. The downside is that they are addictive and potentially dangerous. Throughout history, although recognizing the value of opioids in treating serious pain, especially acute pain and pain at the end of life, there has been caution about using opioids to treat chronic pain. This article presents how opioids should be used to treat chronic pain considering recent concerns about their efficacy and safety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Electronic address: jcb12@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Jane C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Ballantyne
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D059408:Pain Management; D010147:Pain Measurement; D018579:Patient Selection
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid
keywords: Addiction; Dependence; Opioid dependence; Pain management