Abstract
Purpose of Review: Sedation for pain medicine procedures provides a unique challenge for proceduralists. Many patients dealing with pain are on chronic opioids and require higher doses of sedation for adequate procedural comfort. Chronic pain patients have various comorbidities including depression, neuropsychiatric disorders, peripheral vascular disease, and renal impairment, among others [1]. These confounding variables make the overall treatment of their pain condition much more challenging. Recent Findings: For patients requiring intravenous (IV) sedation for their pain procedures, the constant need for access may render them a “difficult stick” over time. Another factor to consider is the increasing requirements by the hospital system needing IV sedatives and analgesics in the intensive care unit and operating rooms during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Summary: Sublingual sufentanil (SST) provides an excellent analgesic option for patients undergoing interventional pain procedures. The use of SST allows hospitals to preserve IV agents for more critical areas and mitigates the difficulty of obtaining IV access in patients.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 145-149 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Current pain and headache reports |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2022 |
Keywords
- Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Interventional Pain Management
- Intravenous Sedation
- Sublingual Sufentanil (SST)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine