Researchers Study Potential Mechanism Exacerbating OUD in Chronic Pain Patients

Researchers from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine, and the University of Michigan Medical School teamed up recently to study central sensitization as a potential mechanism linking opioid use disorder (OUD) and chronic pain.

Their findings suggest that central sensitization may be a key underlying factor complicating the treatment of chronic pain and OUD. The findings from the study were published in the journal PAIN Reports.

Individuals with central sensitization—abnormal pain processing in the brain and spinal cord—tend to suffer with pain more than others because they “have spinal cords that are unusually good at sending pain signals to the brain, and brains that struggle to turn off those signals once they arrive,” according to a news release announcing the study.

A total of 141 study participants were recruited from the Wexner Medical Center’s addiction treatment center in Columbus, Ohio. The American College of Rheumatology 2011 Fibromyalgia Criteria was administered by electronic survey. Patients also answered questions regarding pain interference, quality of life, and items regarding their pain beliefs and their expectations for pain and addiction treatment.

Researchers measured patients’ quality of life across 8 domains and found greater central sensitization was associated with a worse quality of life among patients with OUD.

“Additionally, patients higher in central sensitization were more likely to report pain as a major reason for why their opioid addiction first began, as well as for putting off addiction treatment, continuing and increasing their use of opioids, and fear of pain causing OUD relapse in the future,” senior author Daniel J. Clauw, MD, director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan, said in a news release.

Study lead author O. Trent Hall, DO, said that for follow-up research, he plans to follow patients with central sensitization and OUD over a longer period to see if they respond differently to treatments or have different treatment outcomes. He added that he will also study whether existing treatments for central sensitization are beneficial for patients with co-occurring chronic pain and OUD.

Reference

Study provides first evidence of link between opioid use disorder, chronic pain. News release. Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. July 11, 2022. Accessed July 18, 2022.