1 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 1 9
M
ost patients who are hooked on opioids know exactly when
they started down the slippery slope of addiction, and
many think back to heading home from surgery with a
pocket full of pills to overpower post-op pain.
The Duke University Health System in Durham, N.C., may have been
unwittingly contributing to the nation's prescription drug abuse epi-
demic by sending patients home with excess amounts of opioids —
they typically used only 30% of the pills they received and most did not
dispose of the leftovers.
Pain Is Personal
Patients do well if you do away with a one-size-fits-all
approach to managing their post-op discomfort.
Daniel Cook | Executive Editor
• ONE AND ONLY Anesthesiologist Padma Gulur, MD (right), and her colleagues at the Duke Perioperative Pain Care Clinic con-
sult with patients leading up to surgery and support their recovery for 90 days post-op.
Jack
Newman,
Duke
Anesthesiology
