Pain Management

Pain Management
An estimated 28 Million americans

have sleep complaints due to chronic pain syndromes

Compared with patients who do not complain of sleep problems, the patients with chronic pain and sleep issues report lower quality of life and visit healthcare providers more often. Chronic pain and disrupted sleep are commonly associated, and they share a clear cause-and-effect relationship. Pain fragments sleep, and poor sleep worsens the pain response. The prevalence of sleep disorders and the number of patients experiencing chronic pain continue to increase.

Studies have shown that long-term narcotic use causes, precipitates, or exacerbate sleep-disordered breathing; as the use of these agents continues to grow, so will the number of individuals with opioid-induced apnea.

Most Common Symptoms of OSA

  • Snoring
  • Morning headaches
  • Waking up sweating
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness
  • Frequent trips to the bathroom during the night
  • Problems staying asleep (insomnia)
  • Waking up and gasping for air
  • Bed partner witnesses apneas

Risk Factors/Predictors of OSA:

  • Obesity/BMI >30
  • Neck line circumference >17 male/>15” female
  • Advanced age (0ver 40)
  • Diabetes/hypertension
  • Male gender
  • Narrow airway
  • Enlarged tonsils
  • Cranio-facial abnormalities
  • Retrognathia (recessed chin)
  • Downs syndrome
  • Shift workers and commercial truck drivers
  • African-Americans have twice the risk versus Caucasians, additionally Asian ethnicity and Hispanic Women show a higher prevalence.

How do Sleep Disturbance and Chronic Pain Inter-relate?

  • A bidirectional relationship exists between pain and sleep disturbances.
  • Among patients with chronic pain, more than 50% experience sleep disturbances. Some reports say as many as 70%-88% of patients with chronic pain report sleep trouble.
  • In patients with fibromyalgia, complaints of poor sleep quality and fatigue are more prominent than pain. The prevalence of insomnia, restless legs syndrome (RLS), and hypersomnia are higher among patients with fibromyalgia than within the general population. Similarly, OSA is significantly more common, with observed rates of 46%-80% reported among patients with fibromyalgia.
  • Several studies have shown a marked increase in sleep-disordered breathing with both acute and chronic use of narcotics, regardless of the agent used, dose, duration of therapy, or individual risk factors for OSA.
  • Studies have shown a higher than expected prevalence of sleep disordered breathing in opioid-treated chronic pain patients. Obstructive and central sleep apnea syndromes occurred in the studied population at a far greater rate (75%) than is observed in the general population where obstructive sleep apnea is known to be under-diagnosed but has been estimated at roughly 2% to 4%. Narcotics are often used to treat pain, and these drugs are known to affect breathing.
  • Treating sleep-disordered breathing in chronic pain patients who are taking pain medications that affect breathing can improve pain levels and overall quality of life, and it may also reduce healthcare usage for chronic pain patients.

Detailed references available upon request.

PLEASE COMPLETE THE OSA SCREENER

The STOP-Bang Questionnaire : Answer these Eight questions by yes or no

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Helping your patients sleep better

  • If your patients report sleep complaints, assess for obstructive sleep apnea (STOP-Bang) or other sleep disorders
  • Explain that sleep in combination with moderate physical activity may promote remission and help prevent relapse
  • Keep CSCC brochures and forms in your office to help foster awareness of sleep disorders in your patients
  • If your patient screens positive for OSA and has a supportive clinical history, please refer them to Comprehensive Sleep Care Center for an evaluation

The Smart Choice for your patients

A one-stop sleep health shop = win/win for your patients

  • A seamless process from diagnosis to therapy for you and your patient referrals
  • A sleep medicine practice solely focused on sleep medicine
  • Pre-certification services of your patient’s insurance provided by our billing specialists
  • Collaborative partnership and multidisciplinary approach with our referring providers and their patients
  • An individualized, tailored treatment plan for the entire spectrum of sleep health management
  • Full service sleep health practice providing DME, including our onsite team of dentists for the treatment of mild to moderate sleep apnea by oral appliance therapy. Insurance billed directly on the behalf of your patient
  • Ongoing patient education, long term support and compliance monitoring of CPAP therapy to enhance patient outcomes
  • Home Sleep study program available
  • Quick turnaround on results and updated follow up notes provided