Toufic Jildeh, MD, has joined the team of surgeons at East Lansing, Mich.-based MSU Health Care, where he will continue his research in eliminating opioid use during recoveries.
Dr. Jildeh received the O'Donoghue Sports Injury Award for his work on non-opioid research after successfully eliminating opioid use in his patients following ACL reconstruction, according to a July 26 news release.
Between January 2019 and February 2020, Dr. Jildeh worked with patients following ACL reconstruction, giving half of the recovering patients opioids and half a mix of drugs including muscle relaxers and Tylenol.
“This non-opioid protocol was custom-tailored to the human healing experience as well as pathways for pain. That’s what made our protocol really special. And the study showed the non-opioid protocol had equivalent or better results than the narcotic protocol," Dr. Jildeh said in the release.
Dr. Jildeh will also serve as an assistant professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and as the team physician for Michigan State athletics.
Dr. Jildeh is one of the youngest recipients of the O'Donoghue award, the release said. He will begin his work at Michigan State in mid-August.