NEW ORLEANS – How do you manage surgical pain when someone is in treatment for opioid addiction? And how do you manage chronic pain?
It is possible to give patients opioids for post-op pain without increasing the risk of relapse, according to Margaret Chaplin, MD, a staff psychiatrist at Community Mental Health Affiliates in New Britain, Conn.
Dr. Chaplin generally uses buprenorphine and naloxone (Suboxone) for opioid use disorder, and she likes to keep her patients on it for surgery. That often means, however, talking with skeptical surgeons and anesthesiologists beforehand, and reminding them that buprenorphine itself has analgesic effects. Meanwhile, when her patients have chronic pain, sometimes they need help understanding that aspirin and acetaminophen help, even if they don’t give patients a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Dr. Chaplin shared those tips and more about pain management in opioid addiction in an interview at the American Psychiatric Association’s Institute on Psychiatric Services.
