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Findings support use of non-opioid analgesia in outpatient hand surgery
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BOSTON — Results presented at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting showed use of non-opioid analgesia may be safe and efficacious after outpatient hand surgery.
Benjamin L. Gray, MD, and colleagues randomly assigned 140 patients undergoing carpal tunnel or trigger finger releases in an ambulatory surgery center to receive either acetaminophen mixed with ibuprofen or acetaminophen mixed with codeine. Patients completed a diary for 7 days that included VAS pain score, the number of pills taken and side effects.
Both groups showed no significant differences in regard to VAS score, according to Gray, but the opioid group had increased constipation. However, the non-opioid cohort had increased drowsiness, which Gray said was surprising.
“There was no difference in the number of pills taken between cohorts, and here we see that there were more patients who dropped out from the opioid cohort compared to the non-opioid, but this was not significant,” Gray said. – by Casey Tingle
Reference:
Thibaudeau S, et al. Paper 7. Presented at: American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting; September 13-15, 2018; Boston.
Disclosure s : This paper received grant support from Presbyterian Hospital Bach Fund 2015. Gray reports he receives consulting fees from DePuy Synthes and is a contracted researcher for Polyganics.