Opioids are a class of drugs that are routinely prescribed for postoperative pain management. However, the required amount of opioids isn’t something that experts in the field are sure about, yet. Various studies claim that they can adversely affect the recovery of the patient.
A new case-control cohort study has revealed that post-surgical pain can be effectively managed with minimal or no opioids. This clearly suggests that alternative approaches to pain management can be safe and highly effective.
During the study, the scientists enrolled 1231 patients undergoing gynaecological oncology surgery and tried to know whether or not, post-surgical acute pain can be effectively managed with less number of opioid doses after a patient is discharged from the hospital. Doctors did not prescribe opioids to patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery unless they required 5 doses of intravenous or oral opioids. Also, a 3-day opioid pain medication supply was provided to patients who underwent a laparotomy (a surgical incision into the abdominal cavity) at discharge. Further, it was found that the circulation of 16,374 opioid tablets was eliminated by the restrictive protocol right in the first year. This clearly reduced the volume of opioids that could be misused.
According to the study authors, no negative results were found after using ultra-restrictive opioid prescription protocol (UROPP) to manage postsurgical pain after patients discharge. Notably, ultra-restrictive opioid prescription protocol says that patients should not be prescribed opioids at discharge unless they require. Therefore, it has been suggested to adopt radical opioid-sparing approaches for managing postoperative pain nationwide.
Here, we tell you 3 post-surgery herbal remedies for pain relief.
Ginger: Ginger extract is really helpful in pain because it contains phytochemicals, which help stop inflammation. However, few side effects have been associated with ginger when taken in small doses.
Capsaicin: It works by depleting substance P, which is a compound that conveys the pain sensation from the peripheral to the central nervous system. It takes a couple of days for this to occur.
Turmeric: It works magically against pain and reduces inflammation with a chemical called curcumin. It is safe to use, however, its high doses or long-term use may cause indigestion.