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P A I N
C O N T R O L
LESS IS MORE Current pain control methods should aim
at minimizing the overall use of opioids and focus on shortacting versions of the drugs when they're needed.
Stop Overusing Opioids
Y
our anesthesia providers You need to manage
or recovery room nurses post-op pain, not
likely have had conversa- eliminate it completely.
Ashish Sinha, MD, PhD, DABA
tions with patients that
Philadelphia, Pa.
went something like this:
"I'm in agony. Give me the strongest pain meds you've got."
"But you might feel nauseous. You might throw up. You might be
constipated."
"I don't care. Solve my pain now. Please."
It's understandable that patients in severe pain tend to focus solely on
the source of their discomfort, which in turn causes anesthesia
providers, surgeons and recovery room staffs to do all they can to
lower pain scores to acceptable levels. Additionally, patients often
