Researchers found that adding treatment with electrotherapy or acupuncture reduced or delayed the use of opioids for pain relief. Acupuncture was found to be most valuable for easing pain right after surgery, whereas with electrotherapy, pain was less severe up to six months after surgery. Neither continuous passive motion nor preoperative exercise had an effect on pain, although the researchersdescribed the data on that as low-quality. Cryotherapy also did not improve pain, but it was linked to a slight reduction in opioid use.
Who may be affected?
People who have knee replacement surgery. More than a million joint replacements are done in the United States each year, about three-fourths of them knee replacements. Opioids are a standard prescription for pain relief after the surgery because of their effectiveness, but the drugs are highly addictive. Their misuse and overuse have created an epidemic in the country.
Caveats
The researchers described the findings as “modest but clinically significant,” adding that further research was needed. The study reported only on the effect the nondrug treatments had on pain relief and opioid use; other potential benefits, such as improved mobility or function, were not evaluated.
Find this study
Online Aug. 16 in JAMA Sugery (jamasurgery.com). Click on "New Online."
Learn more
Information on knee replacement surgery can be found at orthoinfo.aaos.org (search for "total knee"). More on opioids is available at hhs.gov/opioids.
The research described in Quick Study comes from credible, peer-reviewed journals.
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