SolvingPain was born out of the desire to help healthcare professionals in the fight against one of the biggest challenges currently facing Canada: The opioid epidemic.
Physicians and other prescribers find themselves in a unique position when it comes to this crisis. We know that inappropriate pain management is contributing to inappropriate opioid prescribing and even opioid misuse. Prescription drugs are sometimes diverted into the illicit pill market or become a “getaway” product into illegal opioid use. Additionally, as many as 10 per cent of surgical patients may find themselves persistently using opioids past the standard treatment course. At the same time, opioids can be critical for minimizing pain during the perioperative period and reluctance to use them can result in unsatisfactory patient experiences, which can then impact outcomes and increase healthcare costs.
Thankfully, there is a growing body of best practices that dives into how opioids, co-analgesics and non-pharmacologic techniques can be used to create optimal pain management plans for surgical patients. Unfortunately, these guidelines can often be cumbersome to access.
Enter SolvingPain’s first initiative: The Perioperative Pain Management Pathway. As a guide to best practices, its goal is to enable physicians to provide the best possible pain control for their patients using evidence-based practices that also limit the potential for opioid misuse and abuse. The Pathway launched with recommendations for over 50 common surgeries, including hip replacement, cholecystectomy and Caesarean section.
Developed for busy healthcare practitioners, the Pathway is where prescribers can review pain management plans for opioid-naive patients and well as those coping with comorbidities and other factors that may impact their pain management plans. It was created using the latest research, including the Consensus Statement for the Prescription of Pain Medication at Discharge after Elective Adult Surgery and material authored by Michigan OPEN; and will be updated with new data and new procedures on a regular basis.
Optimal patient recovery means treating patients as partners. That includes setting the right expectations for their recovery and providing practical tools around opioid use. To facilitate this, SolvingPain.ca also features a curated selection of patient education materials tailored to a Canadian audience.
