Many of us have watched the TV series Dopesick and have been impacted in one way or another by the opioid epidemic. I was a resident in the 1990s when pain was considered a vital sign and it was considered malpractice to not prescribe tremendous amounts of narcotics.
Fast forward 20 years and many pharmacies flat out refuse to fill opioid prescriptions for patients. This study showed that ACL patients really only need a few doses of narcotics after surgery. Indeed, 83% of the patients prescribed 15 tablets felt that they had enough or too many.
We will continue to fine tune how we treat post-operative patients as patients have different tolerances to narcotic pain medications. Studies such as this are quite helpful to practice.
Read the Healio article: Lower opioid quantity did not impact pain control, satisfaction after ACL reconstruction
Photo source: free public domain CCO image.
