BALTIMORE —Anyone considering surgery will probably need pain management, and opioids can be effective. But in the midst of an opioid addiction epidemic, it's not surprising that some patients are leery about taking them.
But there might be another option for some patients: a non-narcotic drug being used to curb pain during and after surgery.
Patricia DeRosa is fully recovered from surgery to remove most of her colon last December. She works at a pharmacy and knows all too well the stories of opioid addiction, but her doctor was able to operate without using one.
"It worked very well, and I didn't have any pain medicine other than Tylenol in the hospital, and then they stopped that," DeRosa said.
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5 comments:
I was in the pharmacy and I think I saw pain pills am I addicted now?
EXPAREL should not be injected into the spine, joints, or veins.
Other local anesthetics should not be injected immediately after injecting EXPAREL; this may lead to an immediate release of the active ingredient in EXPAREL.
The active ingredient in EXPAREL can affect your nervous and cardiovascular system, may cause an allergic reaction, and/or if injected into your joints may cause damage to the joints.
EXPAREL is not recommended for the following types or routes of administration: epidural, intrathecal, regional nerve blocks, or intravascular or intra-articular use
It might be okay when getting surgery and some time after surgery, but for people with chronic pain, especially in the back, it really isn't a replacement for opioids. It can't even be injected in the spine, for those who are candidates for injections. I am no longer a candidate for injections so it offers no relief for me.
But for postoperative pain it might be good to use and avoid being exposed to opioids in the first place and therefore no chance of becoming addicted.
It does seem pretty expensive but I'm no expert in that. The insurance companies will decide if it's too expensive.
This is probably a step in the right direction though.
Just give them a stick to bite on.
And a good pull off of the liquor bottle.
watching old westerns again? lol
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