Uncoupling Pain and Opioid Use after Surgery.

Editorial| May 2023 Uncoupling Pain and Opioid Use after Surgery This article has an Audio Podcast Karim Shiraz Ladha, M.D., M.Sc.; Karim Shiraz Ladha, M.D., M.Sc. 1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Kristin L. Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D. Kristin L. Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D. 2Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Management, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Author and Article Information This editorial accompanies the article on p. 462. Accepted for publication March 6, 2023. Address correspondence to Dr. Ladha: karim.ladha@mail.utoronto.ca Anesthesiology May 2023, Vol. 138, 457–459. https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000004552 Connected Content Article: Prolonged Opioid Use and Pain Outcome and Associated Factors after Surgery under General Anesthesia: A Prospective Cohort Association Multicenter Study Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Cite Icon Cite Get Permissions Search Site Citation Karim Shiraz Ladha, Kristin L. Schreiber; Uncoupling Pain and Opioid Use after Surgery. Anesthesiology 2023; 138:457–459 doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000004552 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll PublicationsAnesthesiology Search Advanced Search Topics: opioid analgesics, opioids, pain, surgical procedures, operative Pain is an expected outcome after almost any surgical procedure. Therefore, one important goal in the perioperative period is to pharmacologically mitigate activation of the nociceptive pathway, such that the pain experienced after an operation is minor and short-lived. With this aim in mind, opioids are a useful perioperative tool due to their analgesic efficacy and titratability according to individual patient needs.1 However, the routine prescription of oral opioids after surgery has been called into question in the wake of the opioid crisis. As a result of this concern, there has been a proliferation of studies that have used administrative databases to investigate prolonged postoperative postdischarge oral opioid use.2 These studies, while insightful, do not provide a complete picture. The complexity of the perioperative experience cannot be gleaned from a billing code or a prescription filled. Instead, we need studies with granular, prospective data collection on pain outcomes... You do not currently have access to this content.