“I Just Don’t Feel Heard”: A Case Study on Opioid Use Disorder and Pain Management

Abstract

The nation’s opioid epidemic requires a paradigm shift in the way patients with co-occurring opioid use disorder are treated during episodes of acute pain. Patients are often introduced to prescription opioids after an extremity fracture or sprain or resulting from musculoskeletal back, abdominal, or dental pain. Opioid naive patients who receive their first opioid prescription on discharge from the emergency department may be more likely to develop chronic opioid use compared to patients receiving non-opioid pain medications. This case report will highlight one patient’s journey including initial prescription opioid use, escalation into illicit opioids, entry to a recovery and treatment program, discussions with her physician about alternative therapies, and barriers to satisfactory pain relief. A shared decision-making model will be explored.

Keywords:

• Opioid use disorder
• pain management
• shared decision-making
• opioid

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the patient for her time and openness to sharing her experiences.

Declaration of interest

All authors declare no financial or personal interests which pose a conflict of interest relating to the work contained in this study.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the participating university, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, protocol HSC-SBMI-17-1021, IRB approval date: January 10, 2018.

Patient consent

Written, informed consent was obtained from the participant.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant funding from agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.