NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Electrotherapy and acupuncture are associated with reduced and delayed opioid use after total knee arthroplasty, although more-robust evidence for these and other nonpharmacologic interventions is needed, researchers say.
Dr. Vernon Williams, director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, told Reuters Health, “In my experience, electrical stimulation and acupuncture can be useful and effective components of multidisciplinary pain management and can reduce pain, improve function, and decrease the amount of opioid pain medications needed.”
“All of these options can reduce (the) dose of opioid needed to control pain, reduce the duration of exposure to opioids, or even replace opioids in the menu of treatment options,” Dr. Williams concluded.
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