Journal of healthcare risk management : the journal of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management
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J Healthc Risk Manag · Jul 2017
ReviewMultimodal analgesia as an alternative to the risks of opioid monotherapy in surgical pain management.
Clinicians have long been aware of the danger of overreliance on opioids to manage acute pain, such as the pain accompanying surgery. The risk of adverse drug events is higher with opioids than with any other common class of drugs. Overreliance on opioids increases length of stay and hospital costs, while decreasing patient satisfaction. ⋯ Accordingly, multimodal analgesia is recommended as best practice by most recognized authorities. Increasingly, governmental authorities hold prescribing clinicians and institutions legally liable for the downstream negative effects of opioids, including abuse and addiction. Addressing this issue should be a top priority for hospital risk managers.