CDC Updated Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Pain

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) recently published the Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain, which updates and expands 2016 recommendations “for clinicians providing pain care for adult outpatients with short- and long-term pain.”  The 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline addresses four areas:  “(1) determining whether to initiate opioids for pain, (2) selecting opioids and determining opioid dosages, (3) deciding duration of initial opioid prescription and conducting follow-up, and (4) assessing risk and addressing potential harms of opioid use.”  The voluntary recommendations “do not apply to pain related to sickle cell disease or cancer or to patients receiving palliative or end-of-life care.”  CDC developed the recommendations using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system of evaluating intervention recommendations, and gathered input from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control’s Board of Scientific Counselors, peer reviewers, and the public.  The recommendations “are based on systematic reviews of scientific evidence and reflect considerations of benefits and harms, patient and clinician values and preferences, and resource allocation.”