eMedicineLive

One of the commonest symptom with which a patient visits the doctor is that of chronic abdominal pain. The pain is often severe and does not respond easily to the normal painkillers. A recent study, published in the journal "Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology", has found that more and more physicians across the U. S. are resorting to opioid analgesics to treat chronic abdominal pain.

 

The study was led by Dr. Spencer D. Dorn from the University of North Carolina. His team collected data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Medical Care Survey held between the years 1997 and 2008. The researchers found that while the number of patients coming to the OPDs with the complaint of chronic abdominal pain fell from 14.8 million in 1997 to 12.2 million in 2008, the percentage of patients who were prescribed opioid analgesics as part of treatment increased from 5.9% to a whopping 12.2%. Moreover, the average age of the patients receiving opioid analgesics was between 25 to 40 years. Thus, the researchers concluded that the prescription rate of opioid analgesics for chronic abdominal pain has more than doubled from 1997 to 2008.

 

This is a worrying trend. The role of opioid analgesics in managing chronic abdominal pain is still not very clear. Moreover, their use is to be discouraged as long term use of opioids can lead to constipation, nausea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal symptoms besides worsening of pain. Their use over a prolonged period of time is also associated with addiction and misuse. But many physicians today are resorting to the use of opioids in managing abdominal pain as it may provide instant relief which satisfies the patient. It is also the easier path for the physician rather than investigating the cause behind the pain and treating it. Moreover, it could be a result of the extensive marketing blitz surrounding certain opioid analgesics, the most notable of them being Oxycontin. However, the researchers have suggested more studies to investigate the reason behind this surge in prescribing opioids for chronic abdominal pain, and the results of this trend on the patients in the long run.

 

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