Patient optimization is a nebulous concept that can mean vastly different things to different providers. Joyce Wahr, MD, FAHA, believes the concept involves doing...

Cataract surgery is usually performed quickly and typically without incident. It’s the recoveries that could prove problematic. Patients must administer a staggering number...

Staff at Vance Thompson Vision, an ophthalmic surgery center in Sioux Falls, S.D., hold the hands of patients who are particularly anxious before they enter surgery. The team is convinced the practice is every bit as effective...

Pediatric patients who undergo procedures at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis are given Worry Monsters, adorable homemade stuffed animals that help them deal with the stress of surgery....

When asked about the importance of a personalized approach to post-op pain control, Mike MacKinnon, DNP, FNP-C, CRNA, immediately launches into a story about a patient...

Minimally invasive techniques, premium power tools and innovative multimodal pain management practices are helping surgeons repair a number of foot and ankle...

Total joint replacements have long been recognized as one of the more painful surgeries patients undergo. Thanks to the widespread use of multimodal pain...

In order for an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol to work as intended, you often need an extra something that could make some medical professionals a little...

Regional anesthesia requires a blending of science and art. Bathing nerves that innervate specific body parts with local anesthetics is a proven way to eliminate...

Many patients are more afraid of post-op nausea and vomiting (PONV) than they are of the surgery itself. That means a single incident of PONV can wreak havoc on...

Mary Jane. Weed. Pot. Marijuana is known by many different names. While it's been used recreationally for years, more states are legalizing its use. The variety and availability of marijuana-derived products...

Patients are already nervous and anxious before surgery. Add dehydrated and hungry to the equation and their discomfort spikes as their blood sugar drops. How well...

William P. Barrett, MD, had a patient scheduled for a knee revision surgery when he ran into a problem. The patient’s joint pain was so great that they desperately needed some...

Numbing nerves with local anesthetics relieves post-op pain for days at a time. Freezing them with a blast of targeted cold therapy can provide the same soothing effect for...

Patients who are discharged hours after procedures that used to require inpatient stays to recover don't hurt any less. Today's pain control methods must advance along with...

How did your widely used scale come to be? I met Donna Wong, the late co-author of the scale, in 1981. We shared a concern about...

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols involve standardized care pathways that limit post-op pain with minimal use of opioids. Patients who enter the pathways...

Patients who go NPO in the hours leading up to their surgeries aren't physically prepared for the physical trauma they're about to endure. "Surgery is a major stress on the body," says Steven Bisch, MD,...

With opioid-sparing protocols firmly positioned as the standard for managing post-op pain, surgeons and anesthesiologists have become masters of multimodal analgesia, perfectly combining a little bit of this with...

The concept of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has been around for more than 20 years, introduced in colorectal and abdominal cases as fast-tracked "accelerated...