Drug Class Review: Long-Acting Opioid Analgesics: Final Report Update 5 [Internet]

Chronic pain, typically defined as pain of at least 3 to 6 months' duration, is a common cause of major disability. Opioids have been endorsed by the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Pain Society, and the Canadian Pain Society, among others, as appropriate treatment for refractory chronic non-cancer pain in the general population and in older patients, when used judiciously and according to guidelines similar to those followed with cancer patients. The purpose of this report is to determine whether there is evidence that one or more long-acting opioid is superior to others in terms of benefits and harms and whether long-acting opioids as a class are superior to short-acting opioids when used for treatment of chronic non-cancer pain.