PHILADELPHIA – After instituting a strategy to minimize intraveneous (IV) opioid treatment for hospitalized patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, a study at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania showed that, in the months after the interventions, patients had decreased opioid exposure. Patients hospitalized after the implementation of the strategy also had fewer return hospitalizations within 30 days and shorter lengths of stays, with no increase in pain scores. Researchers said the results not only suggest the implemented strategies to reduce IV opioid treatment were effective but that patient health outcomes are better, study is published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.
Inflammatory Bowl Disease (IBD) includes both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis and affects roughly 3 million people in the United States, according to the most recent data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Inflammation, which characterizes the disease, can be incredibly painful and can warrant medical treatment to provide relief. In an effort to treat fewer hospitalized people with IBD with the use of opioids, specifically emphasizing reduction in opioids administered intravenously, a team of researchers put four different tactics to work over a 6-month period.
