Opioid Equivalency

Excerpt

Opioids are often prescribed for cancer-related pain and moderate-to-severe chronic pain, especially pain that is inadequately controlled with non-opioid therapies. Clinicians can improve the lives of patients living with pain by applying knowledge regarding opioid equivalent dosing for opioid-tolerant patients eligible for opioid rotation. This activity reviews the importance of establishing and calculating opioid equivalence between various agents when making a therapeutic switch and the role of the interprofessional team in ensuring therapeutic and analgesic efficacy while simultaneously minimizing adverse events.