Ethyl Glucuronide Positivity Rate in a Pain Management Population

Area of Science:

• Pain Management
• Clinical Toxicology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Ethanol is sometimes used by patients for pain or psychiatric conditions.
• This suggests a potential role for ethanol as a co-therapeutic in pain management.
• Routine monitoring of ethanol use in pain management is crucial due to potential interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To retrospectively analyze ethanol use in patients within pain management programs.
• To evaluate the prevalence of ethanol consumption using a pain management drug panel test.
• To assess the co-occurrence of ethanol use with prescription and illicit drugs.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of patient data.
• Utilized an in-house pain management drug panel test.
• Immunoassay testing for ethyl glucuronide (EtG), a direct ethanol metabolite.

Main Results:

• 12.6% of patients in the pain management population tested positive for EtG.
• Of those positive for EtG, 86% also tested positive for other substances (prescription or illicit drugs).
• Ethanol use was found to be prevalent in this patient population.

Conclusions:

• Ethanol use is common among patients in pain management programs.
• Routine monitoring for ethanol use is recommended to identify potential adverse drug-ethanol interactions.
• Understanding ethanol's impact on pain management outcomes requires further evaluation.