Perioperative pain management in patients receiving chronic opioid therapy.

What is it about?

Historically, opioids have been used for the transient management of acute pain, whereas chronic administration has been reserved for patients with malignancy or terminal disease. Recently, however, greater emphasis has been placed on pain as an important health problem. As a result, opioids now play a greater role in the treatment of chronic pain of various causes, resulting in a rapid increase in the annual sales of opioid analgesics in all developed countries. All anesthesiologists are likely to be confronted with the difficult acute perioperative pain management in these patients ​since they can experience greater postoperative pain and have markedly increased opioid requirements. Therefore, anesthesiologists must acquire the necessary skills and understanding to effectively treat these patients.

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