Abstract
Diagnosis and therapy for chronic non-cancer pain that persists beyond the normal tissue healing time is very difficult, because it has many types of morbidity. Chronic opioid therapy has been effectively used in Japan for relieving this type of pain. However, chronic use of narcotic analgesics exposes the patient to the risk of narcotic dependence, addiction or abuse. We investigated the factors associated with chronic opioid therapy in Japan using questionnaires completed by doctors that treat patients suffering from chronic pain. The results suggested that chronic opioid therapy is an effective method for treating patients with chronic pain. However, this mode of therapy must be limited in patients with chronic non-cancer pain, and careful patient selection, as well as periodic monitoring of their pain and behavior is required.
