RealClear Health published an opinion piece from Alexandra Sideris, PhD, director of the Pain Prevention Research Center at HSS, entitled, “There's a Smarter Way to Manage Surgical Pain.”

Imagine two patients who undergo the same hip replacement procedure, conducted by the same surgeon, at the same hospital, on the same day. One recovers quickly, while the other struggles with severe post-operative pain.

This scenario happens too often. Doctors and researchers have always known that patients' post-operative experiences depend on a complicated mix of variables, from obvious factors like age, sex, preoperative pain, and underlying health conditions to less obvious ones like anxiety, worry, and depressive symptoms.

But now, artificial intelligence tools are making it possible to predict precisely which patients are at higher risk of severe post-operative pain. These groundbreaking tools can enable doctors to tailor patients' treatment regimens before they even enter the operating room to prevent unnecessary suffering and shorten recovery times.

More patients deserve access to them.

Read the full article at realclearhealth.com.