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Papers of the Week


2020 Jan 31


BMC Musculoskelet Disord


21


1

“My life is under control with these medications”: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of managing chronic pain with opioids.

Authors

Ljungvall H, Rhodin A, Wagner S, Zetterberg H, Åsenlöf P
BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2020 Jan 31; 21(1):61.
PMID: 32005212.

Abstract

The use of opioids to relieve chronic pain has increased during the last decades, but experiences of chronic opioid therapy (COT) (> 90 days) point at risks and loss of beneficial effects. Still, some patients report benefits from opioid medication, such as being able to stay at work. Guidelines for opioid use in chronic pain do not consider the individual experience of COT, including benefits and risks, making the first person perspective an important scientific component to explore. The aim of this study was to investigate the lived experience of managing chronic pain with opioids in a sample who have severe chronic pain but are able to manage their pain sufficiently to remain at work.