Journal of opioid management
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To compare rates of opioid prescribing, aberrant behaviors, and indicators of substance misuse in patients prescribed long-term opioids by resident physicians or attending physicians in a general internal medicine practice. ⋯ Resident physicians at our institution are following a disproportionate number of patients on long-term opioids, many of whom exhibit aberrant behaviors and indicators of substance misuse. This underscores a need for better resident training and supervision to provide effective and safe care for patients with chronic pain.
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Most total knee arthroplasty (TKA) recipients experience pain following the procedure. Patients are provided with medications to manage pain but there is little information regarding their usage of analgesics after hospital discharge. This study investigated analgesic usage in recent TKA recipients. ⋯ Patient modifications to medication regimens are often labeled as patient nonadherence; however, participants in this study considered their actions to be adaptive. This conceptual distinction has practical implications for healthcare providers. These findings emphasize the importance of having TKA patients develop their pain management regimen in conjunction with healthcare providers so that regimens can be tailored to individual needs.