Neuropsychological effects of long-term opioid use in chronic pain patients.
Jamison RN, Schein JR, Vallow S, Ascher S, Vorsanger GJ, Katz NP.

Department of Anesthesiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA

Opioids are thought to worsen the performance of psychomotor tasks due to their sedating and mental-clouding effects. As a result, some safety regulations currently restrict the use of opioids when driving or using heavy equipment. We investigated the psychomotor effects of long-term opioid use in 144 patients with low back pain. All subjects were administered two neuropsychological tests (Digit Symbol and Trail Making Test-B) before being prescribed opioids for pain; tests were re-administered at 90- and 180-day intervals. Test scores significantly improved while subjects were taking opioids for pain, which suggests that long-term use of oxycodone with acetaminophen or transdermal fentanyl does not significantly impair cognitive ability or psychomotor function.

PMID: 14527760 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]