The Science and Practice of Treating Patients with Opioid Use Disorder AK SUMMIT-2 managing_chronic_opioid_prescribing_and_tapering_-_sarah_spencer,_do,

2 managing_chronic_opioid_prescribing_and_tapering_-_sarah_spencer,_do,_fasam (1080p)

Video Transcription

Video Summary

In the video, Dr. Sarah Spencer, an addiction medicine and family medicine specialist working in rural Alaska, discusses the management of chronic opioid prescribing and reviews the updated CDC guidelines. She highlights the unintended consequences of misinterpreting and misapplying the guidelines, such as setting de facto daily dose limits and imposing strict restrictions on prescribing. Dr. Spencer stresses the importance of assessing and treating pain using a multimodal, multidisciplinary approach and provides insights into transitioning patients from chronic opioid therapy to buprenorphine for pain management. She emphasizes the need for shared decision-making, patient-centered care, and gradual tapering to minimize withdrawal symptoms and risks. Dr. Spencer advocates for considering buprenorphine as a safer alternative to traditional opioids, especially for patients with high opioid tolerance or increased risk factors, acknowledging the challenges of insurance coverage and dosage calculations in the transition process. She also touches on the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions and the potential for innovative solutions to improve access to these treatments in remote areas.

Keywords

Dr. Sarah Spencer

addiction medicine

family medicine

chronic opioid prescribing

CDC guidelines

multimodal approach

buprenorphine

patient-centered care

non-pharmacological interventions