"New Study Checks Opioid Math In Knee Arthroscopies" -Elizabeth Hofheinz, MPH, MEd
A new study presented at a recent University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Meeting suggests that educating patients before surgery about appropriate postop opioid use could help in the battle against opioid addiction. To see how effective patient education would be to this end, Alexis Colvin, MD, associate professor of orthopedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and chief medical officer for the United States Tennis Association, and colleagues investigated opioid use in patients after undergoing arthroscopic meniscectomy. Overall, Dr. Colvin and colleagues found that pre-operative patient education regarding appropriate usage of opioid and options for non-narcotic analgesia significantly decreases post-operative opioid consumption and the duration which patients take opioid pills after arthroscopic meniscectomy. They added that pre-operative education is quick and inexpensive method to decrease post-operative opioid prescription requirements.
- Alexis Colvin, MD, Associate Professor, Sports Medicine, Orthopedics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chief Medical Officer, US Open
