Pain management considerations in patients living with both pain syndromes and cardiovascular diseases and disorders

Abstract

Concomitant pain syndromes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and disorders are associated with significant morbidity, impaired quality of life, and neuropsychiatric disorders. There is an interplay between the mechanisms of pathophysiology of both CVD and pain syndromes. Patients with CVD (and/or disorders) as well as pain syndromes have an increased propensity for drug‐drug/disease interactions. Therefore, an understanding of how to use pharmacotherapy to treat pain syndromes, in the context of patients who have diagnoses of CVD and/or disorders, is paramount to patients’ success in achieving adequate pain control and appropriately managing CVD and/or disorders, all while decreasing the risk of adverse events (AEs) both from pharmacotherapy to treat pain and CVD (and/or disorders). Based on the appraisal of literature and authors' clinical expertise, it was determined that gabapentinoids, opioids, skeletal muscle relaxants, tricyclic antidepressants, clonidine, serotonin norepinephrine‐reuptake inhibitors, dronabinol, carbamazepine, second generation antipsychotics, non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs, aspirin, corticosteroids, and topical anesthetics have the most evidence with use in patients with CVD and/or disorders. However, the literature surrounding the use of pharmacotherapy for pain management are limited to retrospective studies and there is a lack of well‐designed, prospective, randomized trials; this also included head‐to‐head comparator studies. Unlike many CVD‐related pharmacotherapy studies, data studying pain management in patients with CVD lacks standardized outcomes that are consistent among the pool of data. Overall, the decision of prescribing specific pain management therapies in patients with CVD and/or disorders should include assessment of pain severity, type of pain, drug‐drug/disease interactions, adjuvant therapies required, and the risk or presence of AEs.