Clinical Issue: Opioid-Free Anesthesia

The conviction of Purdue Pharma for instigating the opioid epidemic in the United States (U.S.) symbolized a righteous public win against the avaricious big pharma and a major leap toward opioid stewardship. The pharmacodynamic contributor to opioid dependence is thought to be opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH). According to Guichard et al. (2021) and Beauchamp et al. (2020), OIH, clinically demonstrated as suboptimal pain control out of proportion with clinical conditions and pharmacological regimens, is usually associated with chronic opioid use. However, OIH is also significantly associated with the intraoperative use of remifentanil, especially at higher doses. Currently, the impact of intraoperative opioids on long-term opioid dependence and use disorder is not definitive and cannot be omitted, despite the duration of the exposure. Moreover, opioids also frequently elicit many complications, such as oversedation, respiratory depression, ileus, <a href="https://medium.com/@ningluo_/clinical-issue-opioid-free-anesthesia-9f3221ba2975">Website</a>