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Clinical Approaches to Hospital Medicine pp 225–241Cite as

Nonopioid and Adjuvant Analgesics for Acute Pain Management

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Abstract

The goals of therapy for the management of acute pain are to provide optimal analgesia while minimizing adverse effects from therapy. Drug therapy is often the mainstay of acute pain management, and clinicians should consider several factors before initiating analgesics including pain etiology and duration, patient age, comorbidities, potential for adverse outcomes, potential drug interactions, adherence, complexity of the regimen, costs, and patient knowledge of risks of treatment. Drugs used for acute pain management are categorized as nonopioid analgesics (e.g., acetaminophen), adjuvant analgesics (e.g., local anesthetics), and opioid analgesics, and these therapies target select aspects of pain processing. The use of nonopioid and adjuvant analgesics can have beneficial effects for various types of acute pain, and their use may be associated with a reduction in the need for high risk analgesics (e.g., opioids) when initiated as part of a multimodal approach to therapy.

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Abbreviations

APAP:

Acetaminophen

CNS:

Central nervous system

COX:

Cyclooxygenase

CV:

Cardiovascular

CYP:

Cytochrome P450

GI:

Gastrointestinal

IM:

Intramuscular

IN:

Intranasal

IV:

Intravenous

NAPQI:

N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine

NSAID:

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MCPHS University, 179 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Michele L. Matthews, Raymond Melika & Yulia Murray

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  1. Michele L. Matthews
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Correspondence to Michele L. Matthews .

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  1. Medical Director of Community Affairs and Health Policy, Ochsner Health Systems, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

    Kevin Conrad

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Matthews, M.L., Melika, R., Murray, Y. (2018). Nonopioid and Adjuvant Analgesics for Acute Pain Management. In: Conrad, K. (eds) Clinical Approaches to Hospital Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64774-6_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64774-6_16

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