Turns out, staying “ahead of the pain” may not be the best advice. Recommending opioids ONLY as a last resort might just be a ticket to staying ahead of an opioid refill, a few nasty side effects, and unnecessary narcotics use.
In a refreshingly straightforward randomized controlled trial out of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, researchers tested a question that’s been buzzing in the OR lounge and postop rounds for years: What happens if we stop telling ACL patients to take opioids preemptively?
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