ReviewHawai'i journal of medicine & public health : a journal of Asia Pacific Medicine & Public Health2016
Avoiding Opioids and Their Harmful Side Effects in the Postoperative Patient: Exogenous Opioids, Endogenous Endorphins, Wellness, Mood, and Their Relation to Postoperative Pain.
Review in Hawai'i journal of medicine & public health : a journal of Asia Pacific Medicine & Public Health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Duloxetine for the reduction of opioid use in elective orthopedic surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2021Pooled it
- A Multicenter, Randomized, Open-Label, Active-Controlled, Parallel-Group Study Evaluating the Pharmacokinetics of Single-Dose Tapentadol Hydrochloride Intravenous Infusion and Tapentadol Hydrochloride Oral Tablets in Patients with Pain.European journal of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics · 2025Trial
- Effect of oxycodone versus fentanyl for patient-controlled intravenous analgesia after laparoscopic hysteromyomectomy: a single-blind, randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Prospective investigation of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia with hydromorphone or sufentanil: impact on mood, opioid adverse effects, and recovery.BMC anesthesiology · 2018Trial
- Article
- Article
- Postoperative opioid-free analgesia with acetaminophen and its impact on pain and postoperative nausea and vomiting following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: a single-center retrospective study.Journal of pharmaceutical health care and sciences · 2025Article
- Case Study and Literature Review: Patient-Controlled Opioid-Free Surgical Pathway for Right Total Hip Arthroplasty.Journal of orthopaedic case reports · 2025Article
- Review
- Review
- The cell-permeant antioxidant D-thiol ester D-cysteine ethyl ester overcomes physical dependence to morphine in male Sprague Dawley rats.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Effect of Intermittent Thoracic Paravertebral Block on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting Following Thoracoscopic Radical Resection of the Lung Cancer: A Prospective Randomized Trial.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- Pharmacological Methods of Pain Management: Narrative Review of Medication Used.International journal of general medicine · 2023Review
- Brief History of Opioids in Perioperative and Periprocedural Medicine to Inform the Future.Ochsner journal · 2023Review
- L-cysteine ethyl ester prevents and reverses acquired physical dependence on morphine in male Sprague Dawley rats.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
- Nonsurgical Providers Provide the Majority of Postoperative Opioid Prescriptions After Hand Surgery.Cureus · 2021Article
- Association of Acute Postoperative Pain and Cigarette Smoking With Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of Beta-Endorphin and Substance P.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2021Article
- Systematic Review of Systemic and Neuraxial Effects of Acetaminophen in Preclinical Models of Nociceptive Processing.Journal of pain research · 2021Review
- Ketorolac Use Shortens Hospital Length of Stay After Bariatric Surgery: a Single-Center 5-Year Experience.Obesity surgery · 2019Article
- An insight into paracetamol and its metabolites using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation.Journal of molecular modeling · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Prescribed opioids are routinely used for many postoperative patients. However, these medications have daunting adverse effects on the body's innate pain management system--the action of the beta-endorphins. The prescribed opioids not only severely impair the function of the mu-opioid receptors, but also inhibit the release of beta-endorphin. This is unfortunate, because beta-endorphin appears to be a much more potent agonist of the mu-opioid receptor than opioids. In addition, beta-endorphin indirectly elevates dopamine, a neurotransmitter related to feelings of euphoria. Therefore, by prescribing opioids, practitioners may inadvertently prolong and increase the overall intensity of the postoperative patients' pain as well as herald anhedonia. This article highlights the relationships between prescribed (exogenous) opioids, beta-endorphins, mu-opioid receptors, wellness, mood, and postoperative pain. The role of patient education, opioid alternatives, and additional recommendations regarding pain control in the postoperative patient are also discussed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
27011886PMC4795331W2413095228What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.