I am very pleased to introduce our new opioid free surgery protocol. This has been in the works for several months and we launched it 3 weeks ago with very good feedback from our patients. Here’s just about everything you need to know.
Why? The use and abuse of opioids cause a lot of problems not just for patient but society at large. On the patient level, opioids often cause side effects such as itching, nausea, constipation, fuzzy head, bad dreams and the list goes on. Having been on opioids myself for various surgical procedures, I personally think they don’t do a very good job at controlling pain but just get you so fuzzy in the head that you just don’t care. On a societal level, have you heard of the opioid crisis? The fewer pills out there in people’s medicine cabinet will mean less abuse.
How? By approaching anesthesia and post operative pain in a different way, pain control can actually be better than what we have achieved in the past with opioids. The non-opioid medications are started pre-operatively to provide a preemptive strike against the pain cycle.
What? Here are the medications we use. Acetaminophen a.k.a. Tylenol: It’s good for head aches and post op pain. Celecoxib a.k.a. Celebrex: this is a non-steroid anti-inflammatory but does not have the blood thinning effects of other NSAIDs such as ibuprofen. Inflammation is a major factor in pain. Gabapentin a.k.a. Neurotin: This is a medication used commonly for nerve pain. It has a mild sedating effect in some individuals but does not fuzz your head nearly as much as an opioid. Marcaine and/or Exparel: These are long acting local anesthetics that are injected into the operative sites that can render the injected area numb for hours or days. Ice: Oh, yeah, ice packs can help a lot. My husband got through a gnarly knee operation with virtually nothing more than Tylenol and a gizmo that surrounded his knee with ice slush, provided by his awesome caregiver (that would be me).
When? We have out patients take a dose of Tylenol, Celebrex and Gabapentin a couple of hours before surgery with a sip of water. During surgery, the surgeon injects the operative area with local anesthetic. After surgery, the patient continues with the medication combination. Ice packs can be added for most types of surgery but check with us first.
Who? All of us – surgeons, anesthesiologist, nurses, patients and their caregivers. This protocol requires that we all work together. The patients must make sure to take their medication before surgery, anesthesia must minimize or eliminate the use of opioids during surgery, the surgeon must be thorough with injection of the local anesthetics, the nurses must be sure the patients and their caregivers understand the pre and post-operative instructions.
So, how’s it working? So far I have had a dozen patients on this protocol including a tummy tuck patient with very, very favorable results. I am very excited about this plan. I’m sure we will tweak it here and there a bit but thus far I’m a total fan.
Thanks for reading and I would be honored if you followed me on Instagram @sowdermd and @ breastimplantsanity.
Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder
@lisalynnsowder
