Transitional Pain Service: Optimizing Complex Surgical Patients.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The care of patients with complex postsurgical pain can be challenging and burdensome for the healthcare system. Transitional pain service (TPS) is a relatively new concept and has not been widely adopted in the USA. This article explores the benefits and barriers of transitional pain services and describes the development of a TPS at our institution. RECENT FINDINGS: Evidence from a few institutions that have adopted TPS has shown decreased postsurgical opioid consumption for patients on chronic opioids and decreased incidence of chronic postsurgical opioid use for opioid-naïve patients. The development of a transitional pain service may improve outcomes for these complex patients by providing longitudinal and multidisciplinary perioperative pain care. In this article, we describe the implementation of a TPS at a tertiary medical center. Our TPS model involves a multidisciplinary team of anesthesiologists, pain psychologists, surgeons, and advanced practice providers. We provide longitudinal care, including preoperative education and optimization; perioperative multimodal analgesic care; and longitudinal follow-up for 90 days post-procedure. With our TPS service, we aim to reduce long-term opioid use and improve functional outcomes for our patients.

Duke Scholars

Author Atilio Barbeito Anesthesiology, VA Anesthesiology Service

Author Srinivas Pyati Anesthesiology, VA Anesthesiology Service

Author Harika Nagavelli Anesthesiology, VA Anesthesiology Service

Author Sophia Dunworth Anesthesiology, VA Anesthesiology Service