Orthospine News: 1000 Orthopedic Procedures, 61% of Opioids Unused…But There is an Upside

New work from the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania has determined that while too many opioid prescriptions are going unused, there is an upside: patients are open to sending text messages to their care team regarding how much they are using their opioid prescription. The system, built by a multidisciplinary team, was able to capture real-time information on opioid use and patient-reported outcomes. M. Kit Delgado, M.D., assistant professor of Emergency Medicine, was a co-author on the work and told OSN, “We needed a system that could alleviate surgeons’ valid concerns that reducing the number of pills prescribed for pain following a given procedure wouldn’t leave patients with increased or uncontrolled pain. This system allows us to collect data on patient reported pain and the amount of pills left over in a way that can serve as a continuous feedback loop for prescribers.”   Read more on Orthospine News.