Opioids in pain medicine

Opioids represent an important class of analgesic medication and are effective in moderate to severe acute and cancer pain management. Opioids bind to G protein coupled receptors leading to a variety of physiological effects, including analgesia. Choosing the most appropriate opioid for each individual patient will depend upon the opioids individual pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, their actions across different physiological systems, side effect profiles, available routes of administration and patient factors that impact on drug efficacy. Appropriate governance and opioid stewardship is required to ensure safety and avoidance of misuse.