ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Many surgeons, and spine surgeons in particular, face tough dilemmas surrounding the use of opioids to relieve acute and chronic pain, but little solid clinical data exists on opioids’ effectiveness versus placebo or alternative medical therapies. Any existing comparative data is almost entirely focused on medication management, leaving a huge gray area for medical devices that might play a role in addressing the opioid crisis, either as preventive measures or treatment for addiction.
The opioid crisis is forcing a reckoning in the surgical world.
