CHICAGO A recently released study shows that a multimodal pain regimen (MMPR) designed to minimize opioid exposure and relieve acute pain associated with traumatic injury kept patient self-reported pain scores low while also reducing the daily and total amount of opioid drugs given to trauma patients.
Results from the first study of its kind to evaluate an MMPR in a rigorous, randomized controlled trial were published online as an “article in press” by the
Journal of the American College of Surgeons in advance of print.
“Opioids should not be considered the pillar of treatment for acute pain after injury,” said lead study author John A. Harvin, MD, FACS, associate professor for the department of surgery, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and trauma surgeon at the Red Duke Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.
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IMAGE: John Harvin, MD, led a team of physician-researchers to identify an opioid-minimizing pain management strategy for patients with acute trauma. view more
Credit: Cody Duty/UTHealth
A pain management regimen comprised mostly of over-the-counter medication reduced opioid exposure in trauma patients while achieving equal levels of pain control, according to a new study by physician-researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth.)
Results of the study, which was conducted at the Red Duke Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, were published today in the
Journal of American College of Surgeons. The research shows us that seriously injured people with acute pain can effectively be treated with an opioid-minimizing strategy, said John Harvin, MD, MS, associate professor in the Department of Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth and first and corresponding author of the study. Narcotics ar