Misappropriation of the 1986 WHO analgesic ladder: the pitfalls of labelling opioids as weak or strong.
Br J Anaesth
; 129(2): 137-142, 2022 08.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35397880
Opioids have a vital role in alleviating pain from cancer and surgery. Despite good intentions, it is now recognised that the original WHO Cancer Pain Relief guidance from 1986, in which opioids were classified as either weak or strong, has been both inadvertently and purposefully misused, thereby contributing to harm from opioid use and misuse. However, the recommendation in the 2018 update of the WHO analgesic ladder that a combination of a high-potency opioid with simple analgesics is better than alternative analgesics for the maintenance of pain relief is also applicable to patients who require short-term opioids. Furthermore, because potential harm through opioid use and misuse is intrinsic to all opioids, whether weak or strong, we argue that the arbitrary classification of opioids either as weak or strong should be discontinued, as this description is not helpful to either prescribers or consumers.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Opioides
/
Neoplasias
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Br J Anaesth
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de publicação:
Reino Unido