In 2014, Dr. Clarke launched Toronto General Hospital’s Transitional Pain Service, a program that helps patients, most of whom have recently had surgery, wean themselves off excessive opioid medications. A multifaceted approach is used: patients are prescribed non-opioid therapeutics, and they also learn psychological techniques, such as mindfulness, and receive acupuncture from medical pain specialists. Doctors are also taught to prescribe fewer opioids. Many patients who enter into the program dependent on opioids as their primary mode of pain management no longer use them by the time they leave, he notes.
Dr. Clarke is currently conducting a first-of-its-kind evidence-based clinical trial involving medical cannabis and its use for surgical-related pain. He’s running the study, in partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart, to test whether medical cannabis can effectively manage pain and potentially replace opioids. “I want the data so we can use the right dosage, the right products and the right regimen to treat a condition,” explains Dr. Clarke.
Tech for keeping track
While Dr. Clarke is focused on post-op pain, others at University Health Network (UHN) are trying to make anesthesia for surgery safer. In 2011, Dr. Ludwik Fedorko, an anesthesiologist and an early innovator in pain management, introduced the Drug Reconciliation and Electronic Anesthesia Monitoring, or DREAM, machine – a computer and barcode-aided system for drug administration that he invented – to operating rooms.
21,000
Opioid-related overdoses in Canada in 2019
(SOURCE: GOVERNMENT OF CANADA)
The DREAM system helps UHN anesthesiologists ensure they’re giving the right drugs to patients at the right time. Sometimes doctors might misread a drug’s label or give a drug at the wrong moment, which can lead to serious complications. “Humans are not machines,” says Dr. Fedorko. “We can make mistakes.”
The DREAM machine acts as a verification system. Before the anesthesiologist administers a drug, they scan the medicine’s bar code in front of the machine, which then tells everyone in the room, in real time and in a human voice, which medication the patient is being given. If the incorrect medication gets flashed, someone will be alerted before it’s too late. “It watches over you like a second person,” explains Dr. Fedorko. Since the system was introduced, there hasn’t been a critical intraoperative medication error.
Canada’s largest surgical program requires a best-in-class team of anesthesiologists and assistants who strive for excellence. “Our objective is to continue on this path of making the surgical journey as safe as possible for patients,” says Dr. Keyvan Karkouti, Anesthesiologist-in-Chief at UHN. “Along with our colleagues at Sprott Surgery, we must continue to advance practice through groundbreaking, innovative research and education activities.”