Alternatives to Opioids for Pain Management

Completion of this course will better enable the course participant to:

• Explain the potential value of creating and using function-based treatment plans for patients with chronic pain conditions.
• Discuss the general principles for initiating treatments for acute or chronic pain conditions.
• Describe examples of non-opioid analgesic options for managing acute pain.
• Describe examples of non-opioid analgesic options for managing chronic non-cancer pain.

Effective Management of Acute and Chronic Pain with Opioid Analgesics

Completion of this course will better enable the course participant to:

• Identify the range of therapeutic options for managing acute and chronic pain, including non-pharmacologic approaches and pharmacologic therapies.
• Explain how to integrate opioid analgesics into a function-based pain treatment plan individualized to the needs of the patient, including counseling patients and caregivers about the safe use of opioid analgesics.
• Discuss recommendations and rationale for incorporating emergency opioid antagonists into prescribing practice for training patients and family members on the use of naloxone.
• Identify medications currently approved for the treatment of opioid use disorder and the ways these medications differ in terms of mechanisms of action, regulatory requirements, and modes of administration.