Treatment
The Effects of Preoperative Patient Education on Opioid Use After Orthopaedic Surgery
Mary K. Mulcahey, MD, FAAOS, Social Media Section Editor for OrthoInfo, interviews Luke S. Austin, MD, FAAOS, about his research paper on the effect that preoperative education has on opioid consumption in patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.
Dr. Austin's study determined that patients who were educated by their surgeons about the risks of opioid use consumed, on average, 19%, 33% and 43% fewer narcotics than the control group at the 2-week, 6-week and 3-month follow-up points, respectively.
Dr. Austin and Dr. Mulcahey also discuss the wide range of pain relief strategies that orthopaedic surgeons use to help their patients after surgery.
Dr. Mulcahey is a sports medicine surgeon at Tulane University School of Medicine and Dr. Austin is a shoulder and elbow surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.
Last Reviewed
September 2021
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