Medscape reported on study findings from HSS anesthesiologist Stavros G. Memtsoudis, MD, PhD, who reviewed how the use of multiple analgesics could reduce opioid use, risk of complications and the average length of hospital stay for patients.

According to the article, Dr. Memtsoudis and his colleagues reviewed data from more than 1.5 million joint replacement surgeries from 2006-2016.

"While our data suggest that practicing multimodal analgesia not only reduces opioid consumption but also reduces perioperative complications, we should also acknowledge that opioids do have a role to play in perioperative care. However, this role needs to be carefully defined, and our reliance on this drug class should be reduced as much as possible," said Dr. Memtsoudis.

This article originally appeared on Medscape.com.