Primary Care & Community Medicine
New opioid prescribing guidelines remove fuel for addiction
October 8, 2018Before surgeon Emily Penman, M.D., begins a mastectomy or lumpectomy, her lightly sedated patient receives a nerve block to control pain after surgery. Its effectiveness, when combined with other anti-inflammatory medications, has lowered the need for opioids while reducing by 30 percent the proportion of patients who experience severe pain in the post-anesthesia care unit. […] Read more