Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Special Edition: Opioids - January 2020 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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identified as a prob- lem, we had to offer a solution." Attacking surgical pain with a combina- tion of local anesthet- ics and non-opioid medications is that solution, and has taken on greater importance in light of the opioid epidemic. Population-based studies involving hundreds of thousands of patients have backed the clinical benefits of multimodal pain management and shown how it impacts opioid consumption in the real world. "We assumed it made a difference before we had the data — it made logical sense that using a combination of methods to manage post-op pain would reduce the need for opioids," says Dr. Memtsoudis. "We've been able to put data behind those assumptions, and show on a big level that it's true." Targeted infusions Numbing nerves around the surgical site is an essential aspect of any multimodal anesthesia regimen. Neuraxial anesthesia and peripheral nerve blocks provide superior pain relief when compared with opioid- based strategies for patients undergoing extremity surgeries or abdomi- nal procedures, says Eric Schwenk, MD, FASA, director of orthopedic anesthesia at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pa., who adds that placing drug-infusing catheters at the surgical site extends the pain-relieving effects of region- al blocks. Dr. Schwenk oversees the multimodal anesthesia program for Jefferson's orthopedics service line, a specialty with complex proce- dures that often leave patients in severe pain. He says knee replace- 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0 Opioids were never intended to be used as the cornerstone of post-op pain management practices. — Eric Schwenk, MD, FASA

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