An MD Magazine article reports on study findings from HSS anesthesiologist Stavros G. Memtsoudis, MD, PhD, who investigated the benefits of a multimodal pain relief strategy for patients undergoing joint replacement surgery.

Findings indicated that multimodal analgesia (MMA) contributed to a decrease in opioid prescriptions and the average length of hospital stay for patients.

Additionally, Dr. Memtsoudis noted that the study was not designed to deduct why hospital stays might be shorter, but he believes one reason could be a reduction in complications.

"The use of MMA may also represent a practice which is closely linked with programs whose goal is to accelerate recovery, i.e. enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs. These practices are known to incorporate new knowledge faster and more systematically and thus MMA may be one of the drivers of reduced [length of stay]," he said.

Dr. Memtsoudis added, "now that we have linked MMA to better clinical and economic outcomes, the need for wider adoption of MMA becomes an ethical one. Knowing that this approach may be best for our patients, why don't we use it in everyone (barring contraindications such as allergies and others)?"

Read the full article at mdmag.com