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Buprenorphine for Chronic Pain: a Systemic Review

  • Anesthetic Techniques in Pain Management (D Wang, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Pain and Headache Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this review is to evaluate and explain our current understanding of the clinical use of buprenorphine in the treatment of chronic pain.

Recent Findings

There has been few high-quality, unbiased studies performed on the use of buprenorphine in the treatment of chronic pain.

Summary

Buprenorphine is an effective and safe analgesic that is tolerated at least as well, if not better, than other opioids. Given its safety and mechanistic advantages, the authors believe there is an important role for buprenorphine in the treatment of chronic pain severe enough to warrant the use of an opioid analgesic. Though data is lacking for superiority in chronic pain states, the other advantages of the molecule make it the preferential first-line opioid for around-the-clock pain in our practice.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Interventional Pain and Spine, Wilmington, DE, USA

    Michael A. Fishman & Phillip S. Kim

Authors
  1. Michael A. Fishman
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  2. Phillip S. Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael A. Fishman.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Fishman reports personal fees and sponsored research from Medtronic, Inc. and Biotronik, Inc. He reports personal fees from Nevro, Inc. and Depomed and sponsored research from Stimgenics, LLC, all of which are outside the submitted work. Dr. Kim reports that he is on the speaker bureau for Jazz and Collegium. He is also a consultant for Medtronic and Biotronik, and has done research for Medtronic, Stimgenics, and Vertiflex. Dr. Kim is on the medical board of CBsync and Agrokind.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of Topical Collection on Anesthetic Techniques in Pain Management

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Fishman, M.A., Kim, P.S. Buprenorphine for Chronic Pain: a Systemic Review. Curr Pain Headache Rep 22, 83 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-018-0732-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-018-0732-2

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