Graduation Year
2021
Document Type
Senior Thesis
Degree
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Primary Major
Nursing
Thesis Advisor
Rafael Romo, PhD
Abstract
Background: Total knee and total hip joint arthroplasty are two frequently preformed surgeries, with 5.2 million total knee arthroplasties performed the United States between the year 2000 and 2010 (Williams et al., 2015). Opioids are widely used to manage pain for patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty. However, use of opioids is associated with undesirable adverse effects, such as nausea and respiratory depression, (Johnson et al., 2011). In postoperative patients following total joint replacement, 75 % of the patients complain of inadequately controlled moderate to severe pain (De Luca et al., 2018). Increased use and overprescribing increase tolerance to opioids and can result in poorly controlled acute post-operative pain leading to chronic pain, impaired mobility, and negative long-term outcomes.
Aim: Examine if long term opioid pain management has an impact on early postoperative mobilization, long-term dependence, and overuse of opioid medications after total joint arthroplasty.
Proposal: Increased consumption and long-term use of opioids preoperatively can lead to unmanaged postoperative pain. Use of multimodal analgesia and preemptive analgesia can lead to improved outcomes for patients who are undergoing total joint arthroplasty of the knee and hip. The proposed study aims to examine if use of such modalities can have improved long terms outcomes in patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty.
Included in
Orthopedics Commons, Perioperative, Operating Room and Surgical Nursing Commons, Surgery Commons