Hospitalists continue to face challenges balancing appropriate management of acute pain in the inpatient setting with responsible opioid prescribing, particularly with the number of inpatients suffering from both pain and substance use disorders continuing to increase nationwide.
During my virtual session, “Inpatient Management in the Era of the Opioid Epidemic,” I will cover best practices on how to balance appropriate management of acute pain with responsible opioid prescribing and will examine which nonopioid analgesics and nonpharmacologic treatments have been demonstrated to be effective for management of acute pain in hospitalized patients, specifically risk-mitigation strategies designed to increase the number of patients to whom we can safely prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents.
Additionally, I will cover best practices in treating the hospitalized patient with chronic pain on long-term opioid therapy and managing acute pain in hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder. Real world patient scenarios will be the basis of the session.
Key points to be covered include the following:
- Tips for effective patient communication around pain management in the hospital.
- Responsible opioid prescribing in opioid naive patients, including time of discharge.
- Risk-mitigation strategies for use of NSAID medications for acute pain, including expanded use in patients with risk of GI complications, cardiovascular complications, and chronic kidney disease.
- Review of effective and available nonopioid and nonpharmacologic treatments for acute pain.
- Best practices in managing acute pain in patients with active opioid use disorder.
- Best practices in managing acute pain in patients with opioid use disorder who are treated with opioid agonists.
- Treatment of opioid use disorder in the hospital setting.
Inpatient management in the era of the opioid epidemic
Live Q&A: Wednesday, August 19, 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Dr. Vettese is associate professor in the Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.