Until recently, the belief that adequate pain management was not achievable while patients remained on buprenorphine was the impetus for the perioperative discontinuation of buprenorphine. We aimed to use an expert consensus Delphibased survey technique to 1) specify the need for perioperative guidelines in this context and 2) offer a set of recommendations for the perioperative management of these patients. The major recommendation of this practice advisory is to continue buprenorphine therapy in the perioperative period. It is rarely appropriate to reduce the buprenorphine dose irrespective of indication or formulation. If analgesia is inadequate after optimisation of adjunct analgesic therapies, we recommend initiating a full mu agonist while continuing buprenorphine at some dose. The panel believes that before operation, physicians must distinguish between buprenorphine use for chronic pain (weaning/conversion from longterm high-dose opioids) and opioid use disorder (OUD) as the primary indication for buprenorphine therapy. Patients should ideally be discharged on buprenorphine, although not necessarily at their preoperative dose. Depending on analgesic requirements, they may be discharged on a full mu agonist. Overall, long-term buprenorphine treatment retention and harm reduction must be considered during the perioperative period when OUD is a primary diagnosis. The authors recognise that inter-patient variability will require some individualisation of clinical practice advisories. Clinical practice advisories are largely based on lower classes of evidence (level 4, level 5). Further research is required in order to implement meaningful changes in practitioner behaviour for this patient group.

Background: The perioperative period provides a critical window to address opioid use, particularly in patients with a history of chronic pain and presurgical opioid use. The Toronto General Hospital Transitional Pain Service (TPS) was developed to address the issues of pain and opioid use after surgery. Aims: To provide program evaluation results from the TPS at the Toronto General Hospital highlighting opioid weaning rates and pain management of opioid-naïve and opioid-experienced surgical patients. Methods: Two hundred fifty-one high-risk TPS patients were dichotomized preoperatively as opioid naïve or opioid experienced. Outcomes included pain, opioid consumption, weaning rates, and psychosocial/medical comorbidities. Results: Six months postoperatively, pain and function were significantly improved. Opioidnaïve and opioid-experienced patients reduced consumption by 69% and 44%, respectively. Forty-six percent and 26% weaned completely. Consumption at hospital discharge predicted weaning in opioid-naïve patients. Pain catastrophizing, neuropathy, and recreational drug use predicted weaning in opioid-experienced patients. Conclusions: The TPS enabled almost half of opioid-naïve patients and one in four opioidexperienced patients to wean. The TPS successfully targets perioperative opioid use in complex pain patients. RÉSUMÉ Contexte: La période périopératoire constitue un créneau déterminant pour s'attaquer à la consommation d'opioïdes, en particulier chez les patients qui ont une histoire de douleur chronique et de consommation préopératoire d'opioïdes. Le Service de la douleur transitionnelle de l'Hôpital général de Toronto a été mis sur pied pour s'attaquer au problème de la douleur et de la consommation d'opioïdes après une chirurgie. But: Présenter les résultats de l'évaluation du programme du Service de la douleur transitionnelle à l'Hôpital général de Toronto en mettant l'accent sur les taux de sevrage des opioïdes ainsi que sur la prise en charge de la douleur chez les patients n'ayant jamais consommé d'opioïdes et ceux qui en avaient déjà consommé. Méthodes: Avant d'être opérés, 251 patients à haut risque du Service de la douleur transitionnelle ont été séparés en deux groupes, l'un réunissant les patients n'ayant jamais consommé d'opioïdes et l'autres réunissant ceux qui en avaient déjà consommé. Les résultats portaient sur la douleur, la consommation d'opiodes, les taux de sevrage, ainsi que les comorbidités psychosociales et médicales. Résultats: Six mois après l'opération, la douleur et le fonctionnement s'étaient améliorés de manière significative. Les patients qui n'avaient jamais consommé d'opioïdes et ceux qui en avaient déjà consommé avaient réduit leur consommation de 69 % et 44 % respectivement, et 46% et 26 % d'entre eux étaient complètement sevrés. La consommation au moment du congé de l'hôpital prédisait le sevrage chez les patients qui n'avaient jamais consommé ARTICLE HISTORY

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a vagal nerve-mediated biomarker of cardiac function used to investigate chronic illness, psychopathology, stress and, more recently, attention-regulation processes such as meditation. This study investigated HRV in relation to maladaptive perfectionism, a stress-related personality factor, and mindfulness meditation, a stress coping practice expected to elevate HRV, and thereby promote relaxation. Maladaptive perfectionists (n = 21) and Controls (n = 39) were exposed to a lab-based assessment in which HRV was measured during (1) a 5-minute baseline resting phase, (2) a 5-minute cognitive stress-induction phase, and (3) a post-stress phase. In the post-stress phase, participants were randomly assigned to a 10-minute audioinstructed mindfulness meditation condition or a 10-minute rest condition with audio-description of mindfulness meditation. Analyses revealed a significant elevation in HRV during meditation for Controls but not for Perfectionists. These results suggest that mindfulness meditation promotes relaxation following cognitive stress and that the perfectionist personality hinders relaxation possibly because of decreased cardiac vagal tone. The results are discussed in the context of developing psychophysiological models to advance therapeutic interventions for distressed populations.