Posted on 10/04/2022 6:53:07 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Patients can recover from orthopedic surgery just as well without using opioid-based painkillers.
Study results showed that by prescribing a combination of three non-opioid painkillers to patients, researchers successfully reduced approximately tenfold the amounts of opioids consumed over a six-week post-operative period, without altering their pain levels.
Co-principal investigator Olufemi Ayeni and his team gleaned their results by enrolling 193 patients between March 2021 and March 2022.
The patients were randomly assigned to either a control group of 98 receiving standard opioid-based painkillers or an opioid-free group (93) receiving a combination therapy of naproxen, acetaminophen and pantoprazole and a patient educational infographic. The opioid-free group had access to opioid medication if it was required for pain. Each patient undergoing outpatient knee or shoulder arthroscopic surgery was monitored for six weeks after their operation.
After the six weeks, those in the control group had had an average of 72.6 mg of opioids, compared to 8.4 mg in the opioid-sparing group. Six patients in the control group and two patients in the opioid-sparing group asked for opioid medication after discharge. Difference in pain scores, patient satisfaction with care and number of adverse events were not significantly different.
"This study clearly shows that many of these surgical patients can be treated safely without opioid medications in a select population," said Ayeni.
Opioids remain the post-operative painkiller of choice for orthopedic specialists on both sides of the border, but North America's ongoing opioid epidemic is forcing a rethink among clinicians, Ayeni said, adding that orthopedic specialists at times prescribe more opioids than recommended by medical guidelines.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
if you have surgery , make sure they give you some IV toradal in the hospital before you get discharged....I’m convinced that it really really helps patients get over the hump....toradal is just a NSAID but given IV it seems to work wonders...but you can only take so many doses.
ASIDE from that, NSAIDs interfere with the healing process, which is why surgeons require patients to STOP TAKING them a week prior to the surgery.
This is true. And post as well.
I have learned through the years everyone’s pain threshold is different. I am fair-skinned redhead. Mine is pretty low.
4 hip replacement surgeries. Used Oxy all times for a few weeks/months. Never had a problem stopping use. Would not want orthopedic surgery without them. Pain is individual. People are not better humans when they refuse narcotics. I am not weak because I used them short term.
I’ve had 3 surgeries in 4 years and I’m annoyed how docs prescribe less and less Narco/Tramadol etc each time. The junkies are ruining it for the rest of us and causing governments to restrict and ban. Opioids are an absolute godsend. So grateful for them.
So I can take 3 drugs or just 1.
Hmmm.
L
I read NFL players call Toradal “Vitamin T.” Good stuff!
Mostly just tough it out but there have been a few times when I ended up in emergency.
The last time they gave me dilaudid.
Felt like someone hit me in the chest with a hammer and then there was just this incredible relief.
Looked at the nurse and said, "don't take this wrong but right now I love you."
I’ve surgery opioids I’ve been hoarding since 2012.
They’re worth their weight in gold
Agree. Everyone has a different tolerance for pain.
Confirming what I’ve been thru for 2 surgeries. Told them I didn’t want opioids, give me naproxen and Tylenol. I was just fine. 99% of people don’t need opioids and are afraid of a little pain.
IV toradal sounds pretty bad for the kidneys if it is an NSID.
For some reason, opioids in my body wire me like I’ve had twenty cups of strong coffee.
So when I had major surgery and they installed an epidural pain pump, I immediately had them switch me to IV Tylenol. For me it worked better than the opioids.
This unusual response has caused me to awaken twice during surgery while the tubes were syill in and my arms were still strapped to the boards.
Pain is a perception of the brain. The Dr’s laugh when I reply, No Brain, No Pain!
I have found that prayer allows me to raise above pain, except when it is in my head. Then I just step out of my body. Several times in my life I looked down upon my body and felt nothing when my body was in severe pain.
Re-entering was a bummer.
Exactly right.
This move to rid the world of opioids has almost reached a fever pitch akin to the anti-alcohol cults prior to prohibition. Forcing people to suffer when there are perfectly good drugs available in order to virtue signal is cruel. One person making it through surgery with just tylenol doesn't prove that others don't have a legitimate need for pain relief. Suffering doesn't make someone noble, just miserable. At one time the medical profession cared about curtailing their patient's suffering, now all they seem to care about is minimizing their exposure to potential liability.
The vast majority of people do not become addicted and abuse these painkillers, they use them to minimize their pain and suffering. The fact that some dopehead might abuse them is not a valid reason to refuse them to a patient who just had a hip replacement. Expecting them to "suck it up" and suffer in agony because someone who hasn't just had their bone sawed in half thinks they should be happy with a couple of tylenol is the height of arrogance.
So far in my life I haven't needed them, but if or when the time comes that I do need them I want them available to ease the pain. I sure don't want some clucking bureaucratic ninny deciding I can't have needed pain relief because they're afraid some junkie might get hold of them.
Mostly nsaids enhance bleeding post op which is why they tell you to stop them pre-op.
My lower back is shot.
After a couple of hours in the field or bending over repeatedly it is screaming at me. I have to head back to the cabin, use heat and/or cold compresses, and pop two Kratom capsules.
Without that, I'd have to be on opioids which no-one will prescribe or be non-functional.
The FDA and DEA made a run at Kratom to make it illegal but got stopped. Available in most, but not all states, and on-line.
I've had three knee replacements, neck surgery, etc. and hate how I feel on percocet, etc. I try to use opioids only for rehab.
Rather than being drugged out and impaired, the best I can explain it, Kratom just takes the edge off. At low doses you get relief and your mind is clear. Doesn't make you sleepy unless you are mixing it or taking too much.
I wish I didn't need anything, including aspirin, but at 70 years old with a left hip that has to be replaced this year, and both shoulders also shot needing surgery that I am avoiding, what are you going to do.
Like you, I live with pain, sleeping is the worst, but when I get off the couch, ( I can't sleep in a bed) at 4:00 am, (when I am lucky) and take some Kratom, laying flat in the easy chair, for the next hour or so, I am in no pain, with my mind clear to write crap like this,
Regards.
I can tell from personal experience that opioids are the best for post operative pain. An issue is that Doctors are so worried about overdoses and drug dependency that they under prescribe.
I had repair of 3 crushed discs.
1 in my neck and 2 in my lower spine where the nerves
to my right leg were crushed.
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