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The IndependEnt Monthly Newspaper for pain management PainMedicineNews.com • October 2011 • Volume 9 Number 10
PRIMARY CARE
Study: Two-day Discharge After Arthroplasty Feasible Toronto—A multidisciplinary program implemented two years ago in an Ontario hospital allows patients to be discharged from an ambulatory hospital two days after primary hip- or kneereplacement surgery. Physicians at the Kingston General Hospital associated with Queen’s University implemented the fast-track arthroplasty program in 2009 at Hotel Dieu Hospital, the local ambulatory care center. They recently compared patients’ discharge times and outcomes before and after implementation of the program and found that patients’ average length of stay was reduced from 116 to 47 hours. Key components of the program include early patient education and discharge planning,
Landmark WHO Headache Report Finds Enormous Impact, Major Gaps In Understanding
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ndividuals who experience migraine headaches lose 1.3% of their lives to disability, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) first global atlas on headaches. “Lifting the Burden: Atlas of Headache Disorders and Resources in the World 2011” is full of such details on the prevalence and impact of headache around the world, painstakingly chronicling its personal and societal effects. Yet, the report is also as detailed when it comes to documenting the worldwide failure to adequately diagnose, treat and manage headache. The WHO report is primarily based on survey responses received from neurologists, primary care physicians and patients from 101 countries between October 2006 and March 2009, epidemiologic data from published reports and population-based studies. Its exhaustive nature lends support to the authors’ ultimate assessment that
see WHO page 20
see Two-Day page 15
HMO Initiative Targets Opioid Overprescribing
Interventional Pain Medicine 12 | RF Neurotomy Possible Treatment for Degenerative Spondylolisthesis
A progressive approach to managing opioid misuse in noncancer patients
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n the scramble to contain an epidemic of opioid misuse and overprescribing, one HMO is taking what a former federal prosecutor is calling a “highly progressive approach” to address the problem. Group Health, in Seattle, providing health care to more than 600,000 people in Washington and
Idaho, is asking its primary care physicians to closely track the expectations and outcomes of those patients receiving opioids for chronic noncancer pain. The objective is for physicians and patients to have empirical evidence of the benefits or failures of treatment. see HMO page 46
BOOK PAGE Essentials of Pain Management
Clinical Pain Medicine 28 | Williams’ Diagnosis Shines Light on Exhausting Rheumatic Disease 33 | Platelet-rich Plasma Confers Only Slightly More Pain Relief Than Autologous Whole Blood for Chronic Tennis Elbow Policy & Management 44 | What Can IT Do for Your Growing Pain Practice?
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