ER study has broad implications
by MedPage Today Staff November 08, 2017
A combination of nonprescription pain relievers worked as well as opioids for controlling pain in the emergency department, Tech Times reported.
Patients who received ibuprofen and acetaminophen rated their pain relief as at least as good as that of patients who received one of three different opioid analgesics. As reported in JAMA, the 400-patient clinical study included patients who had varying degrees of pain associated with a different types of injuries and conditions, including fractures, strains, and sprains.
The findings have implications for countering the growing problem of opioid dependence and abuse, said principal investigator Andrew Chang, MD, of Albany Medical College in New York. “Although this study focused on treatment while in the emergency department, if we can successfully treat acute extremity pain with a non-opioid combination painkiller in there, then we might be able to send these patients home without an opioid prescription.”