Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston orthopedic surgeon Vani Sabesan, MD, is making changes to her patient-physician approach to surgery to curb opioid dependency among the elderly, KSAT 12 News reports.
Here are five insights:
1. Preoperatively, Dr. Sabesan educates the patient about the opioid crisis and the risk of dependency on drugs to manage pain.
2. During the operation, Dr. Sabesan performs a local anesthetic block around the patient's nerves to provide pain relief for the first 12 to 24 hours postoperatively.
3. Dr. Sabesan also encourages patients to ice the area that was operated on, to take anti-inflammatory medications and to start rehabilitation early.
4. "I've had 40 patients who've had a shoulder replacement, a rotator cuff surgery, and they've not taken a narcotic medication after surgery," Dr. Sabesan told KSAT 12.
5. Follow-ups of Dr. Sabesan's patients showed individuals who had undergone the surgeon's no-opioid approach had better function postoperatively, according to the report.