Research Identifies Pain Management Strategy That Reduces Opioid Exposure
Summary and Analysis…
Another study indicating that non-opioid solutions for pain management can be effective, i.e. opioids do not need to be the first line approach to pain management. Information such as this, had it been widely available and implemented, could have helped avoid the problems that resulted from reliance on manufacturer’s marketing messages which pushed opioids to the front of the line.
The researchers tested two “two separate combinations of non-opioid pain relievers” and expected the first group which received more expensive medications to work better. However, the second group which received “more affordable and generic medications” did better than expected. One of the researchers concluded “Narcotics do not need to be the first line of therapy for acute pain control.”
Excerpted from Addiction Professional
A study conducted by physician researchers the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston has found that a new pain management regimen for trauma patients that uses mostly over-the-counter medications reduces opioid exposure while providing a comparable level of pain control as other forms of treatment.
Findings of the study were published last week in the Journal of American College Surgeons.
…
For the second study group, researchers created a Multi-Modal Analgesic Strategies in Trauma (MAST) regimen that included more affordable and generic medications, including oral acetaminophen, naproxen, gabapentin, lidocaine patches and, as needed opioids.
