15
August
2018
|
07:00 AM
America/New_York

Toward Opioid-Free Surgery

Medscape featured Charles N. Cornell, MD, chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at HSS Orthopedics at Stamford Health; and Seth A. Waldman, MD, anesthesiologist and director of Pain Management at HSS; who addressed their collaborative educational program on opioid prescribing for hospital employees.  

"What came out of it was a realization that we needed to change, and we've dramatically improved our opioid prescribing practices at the hospital. The basis for that has been multimodal analgesia, changes to our approach to physical therapy so that the physical therapy doesn't contribute to postoperative pain, and addressing patient expectations and reassuring patients that we can manage their pain without opioid medications, making recovery from surgery much safer, with fewer complications," said Dr. Cornell.

"The goal is to take good care of people, allowing them to have a safe surgery and the quickest possible rehabilitation so they can get back to where they started, which is without pain and with good function," Dr. Waldman noted.

Read the full article at Medscape.com [subscription required].