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accept any side effect associated with opioids as long as they're getting
relief from the pain.
Patients who receive significant amounts of narcotics following surgery
are at greater risk of suffering from constipation, nausea, vomiting and
respiratory depression. If narcotics are associated with so many potential
side effects, why are they used? They're used because they're highly effective for nearly immediate pain control.
What's the problem with opioids? Consider that they were created to
control chronic end-of-life pain. They're powerful drugs originally
intended to ensure a patient's last few weeks or days were as comfortably as possible. Gradually, opioid use became more widespread to
treat everyday pain as well as the significant discomfort patients are in
following surgery.
Many caregivers in the United States use narcotics to treat mild
pain, more narcotics to treat moderate pain and even more narcotics
to treat severe pain. That seemingly exaggerated approach to pain
management is rooted in some truth, because a clear majority of the
world's opioid consumption occurs in the U.S., which comprises only
5% of the world's population. In contrast, the World Health
Organization recommends using oral or IV acetaminophen, NSAIDs
and local anesthetics to control mild pain; all mild pain treatment
options plus narcotics as needed to control moderate pain; and moderate pain treatment options plus narcotics as needed to manage
severe pain.
The bottom line: Just because narcotics are effective doesn't mean
they should be the only method you use to attack post-op pain. They
should be a significant part of your plan for pain control, but not the
basis for the entire approach.
