4
doc • Spring 2016
Kentucky
Contents | Spring 2016
FROMTHEEDITOR
Robert P. Granacher Jr., MD, MBA, Editor-in-Chief, Kentucky Doc Magazine
Post Operative Analgesia Following Abdominal
and Urologic Endoscopic Surgery
by Thomas K. Slabaugh, Jr., MD
05
Recent Federal Guideline And Marketing
Changes In Opioid Prescription Policy
by Robert P. Granacher, Jr., MD, MBA
06
PROFILE IN COMPASSION
Russell Eldridge and Compassionate
Cancer Care
by John A Patterson MD, MSPH, FAAFP
08
Opioids and the management of
musculoskeletal conditions
by Brent J. Morris, MD
12
The Elephant in the Room
by Tuyen T. Tran, MD
14
COMMUNITY NEWS
16
Dying as Desired
by Charles G. Ison, MD
18
FROM THE COVER
A Paradigm Shift in Pain
by Danesh Mazloomdoost, MD
PHYSICIAN HEALTH & WELL-BEING
Ensuring Medical Staff Well-Being
by John A Patterson MD, MSPH, FAAFP
Them’s fight’n words: Opioid abuse is now the largest iatrogenic epidemic in American
history. Danesh Mazloomdoost MD, our featured LMS physician in this Spring Edition
of KentuckyDoc magazine, has correctly guided us to a severe problem linked to the care
of our patients with chronic pain. His article entices us with a panoply of evidence-based
management techniques available now for chronic pain and he gives the promise of future
scientific breakthroughs for non-opioid pain control. Moreover, we are shown the skill set of a highly trained
board certified pain physician.
Dr. Slabaugh, our current LMS president, provides a lucid introduction to the available techniques for acute
pain control following endoscopic abdominal and urologic procedures. His article demonstrates options that
may limit the need for prolonged opioid use while reducing the patient’s time in hospital. Brent Morris, MD,
an orthopedic surgeon and expert in shoulder-elbow surgical treatment, guides us in the opioid management
challenges in treating musculoskeletal conditions.
Back to the opioid abuse problem. Dr. Granacher summarizes last month’s publication of the new CDC
guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain. He also outlines the FDA’s: A Proactive Response to
Prescription Opioid Abuse. Part of FDA policy change due to opioid abuse is to address immediately the lack of
non-opioid alternatives for chronic pain control. Leaving governmental policy issues aside, Tuyen Tran, MD
asks us to look at “the elephant in the room.” Dr.Tran, an internist and addiction medicine specialist, contrasts
the opioid abuse crisis with the myths against using medicatio