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Newswise — The opioid epidemic has become a public health crisis in the U.S. While primary care physicians have been writing fewer opioid prescriptions over the last several years, new opioid prescriptions by surgeons increased 18 percent from 2010-2016. However, many surgeons are now diligently...
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Newswise — A specialized pain management program for patients who underwent robotic surgery for urologic cancers resulted in just eight percent going home with narcotics after discharge, compared to 100 percent who would have received them without this enhanced recovery protocol. What’s more, the...
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The shift away from opioid use in medication management for chronic pain has changed the dynamic of opioid prescribing in many ways. Now, more than ever, prescribers are under the microscope regarding selection of opioids and doses as well as clinical documentation and appropriate action based on...
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An editorial appearing earlier this week in the Journal of Pain Research and coauthored by senior PAINWeek faculty member Michael Schatman, PhD, CPE, DASPE, advocates for a fresh approach to threading the needle between efforts to address the crisis of opioid abuse and the legitimate needs of...
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A study led by researchers from Penn State College of Engineering, in collaboration with colleagues from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Boston University Medical School, has returned alarming—and discouraging—conclusions on efforts to intervene in the crisis of opioid...
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A nationwide survey commissioned by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) highlights significant shortcomings in parental understanding of prescription opioids for management of their children’s’ pain. The findings document what the authors term a “conflicted relationship” in which parents...
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A new study conducted at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, reports that a system of automated text messaging improves patient outcomes from joint replacement surgery in several key metrics, including time to recovery of knee motion, reduced use of opioid medications for pain, better adherence...
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A paper is this month’s edition of Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery discusses the benefits of primary targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) in reducing or preventing phantom limb pain resulting from below-the-knee amputation surgery. Authored by Ian Valerio, MD, with the Ohio State University...
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A Colorado University neuroscientist reports that injections of an experimental gene therapy have shown impressive results in providing pain relief and functional improvement to more than 40 dogs affected by chronic pain. Linda Watkins, PhD, collaborated with chronic pain specialist Rob Landy at the...
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An innovative regional anesthesia technique administered before surgery may result in better pain relief and reduced opioid consumption in women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer. The pectoralis nerve plane (PECS) block is an ultrasound-guided method of delivering long-acting anesthetics to...