Wellness Wednesday

Physical Therapy Forms of Treatment Provide Alternatives to Opioids and Opioid Addiction

Researchers at the University of Stanford have found that therapies that include electrotherapy and acupuncture (or alternatively dry-needling) are proven forms of pain-management that reduce opioid consumption.

The United States president's opioid commission has called for a state of emergency due to the vast amount of overdoses that have occurred in many communities throughout the country. Many pundits blame prescription opioids for spurring the heroin problem that we now have, which has spurred many researchers to attempt to find alternatives for opioids in regards to pain management. One such research group at the University of Stanford analyzed drug-free interventions including cryotherapy, pre operative exercise, electrotherapy, and acupuncture after total knee replacements. 

The researchers identified 39 randomized clinical trials that included a total amount of  2,391 patients that met the desired criteria for the research analysis. The study ultimately found that acupuncture and electrotherapy provided sufficient evidence as an alternative for postoperative pain management and reduced opioid consumption. There was also low-certainty evidence that cryotherapy reduced opioid consumption, but no certainty that it reduced pain. The research also found no clear link between continuous passive motion along with pre operative exercise and reduced opioid consumption and reduced pain. More research is still warranted regarding these findings, however, it is promising that therapy techniques already commonly utilized in physical therapy reduce opioid consumption and are readily available to anyone postoperatively.