CDC Releases Updated Clinical Practice Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Pain

Last Updated: Nov 10, 2022

On November 3, 2022, the CDC released updated Clinical Practice Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Pain. This publication updates and replaces the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain released in 2016.

The 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline addresses the following areas: 1) determining whether to initiate opioids for pain, 2) selecting opioids and determining opioid dosages, 3) deciding duration of initial opioid prescription and conducting follow-up, and 4) assessing risk and addressing potential harms of opioid use.  

You can find an overview of what’s new and what has changed in the 2022 Guidelines here.  You can also find a comparison of the 2016 and 2022 recommendations here.

You can find more information about the CDC’s Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain here.