oh my word- seriously? You cite a tumor patient as support for the claim chronic pain doesn’t need opioid treatments? That is a basic no brainer operation decision- simple- cost effective- quick- hardly any recovery-
We’re not talking about cases that can be easily corrected with surgeries- we’re talking smashed spines- that are beyond repair- people suffering from nerve conditions that can’t be corrected with surgeries- people that have arthritic pain all over that prevent them from living a full life, and for whom NSAIDS either stop working, or can’t be used anymore due to liver or kidney damage- Many inoperable cancers-
To say that there is not a need for opioids in chronic pain because a book shows that some pain can be reduced or cured for specific issues, and because a chief resident made a false claim- is just disingenuous- there are many cases fro which surgery6 is not an option and chronic pain is a life altering, life debilitating issue, that only opioids can help with- until some other form of medication, non narcotic, comes along and is just as, or more powerful than, opioids
Again- the hysteria over the supposed, falsely claimed ‘addiction rates’ of opioids is a lie- addiction rates are very low- The only epidemic we have is with illegal addicts- not with people with chronic pain going on opioids to be able to function in life with a modicum of dignity and self sufficiency
You and i are going to disagree obviously- but I am going to keep posting the facts- there is no legally prescribed opioid epidemic among folks who use them as prescribed- opioids are not dangerous- there is only a very very slight risk of addiction and or death when they are not abused- and very few who are prescribed them legally abuse them- infact- I posit suicide rates would climb dramatically, and illegal drug use deaths would rise dramatically if medically prescribed opioids are made illegal
Presumably a patient with a smashed spine would be at least a para if not quadriplegic. If the pain lateralized at all a tractotomy would probably be like a miracle. Just off the top of my head a truly intractable joint pain might be alleviated greatly by a glycerol injection. I can’t recall ever seeing that written up or done, there likely is some reason it isn’t. No question, treating chronic pain requires a toolbox with MANY tools and a lot of creativity. It is an extremely challenging thing. Of course, we can also just prescribe narcotics.
...and I referenced that patient with terminal illness not to support my claims about chronic pain but to demonstrate that even in a terminal illness patients prefer non narcotic outcomes when offered.