Jupiter surgeon helps patients recover without opioids

[00:00:00]I'm Samantha Gutierrez, your Jupiter reporter. For years, a prescription for dozens of opioid pain pills for knee hip replacement surgeries have been standard practice. But, a doctor I connected with here at Jupiter Medical Center tells me he's taking a different approach. He says if you never give patients pills they don't need, you never put them at risk in the first place.

[00:00:20]>> My husband had um previously had Achilles surgery and he had a friend who had mentioned don't take any of those drugs. You They are highly addictive and um that was definitely on my mind.

[00:00:34]>> For patient April Stubbs, the enhanced recovery after surgery protocol and Dr. Andrew Noble's propriety method meant recovering from knee replacement without ever touching an opioid.

[00:00:43]>> Instead of chasing pain, it's a way of trying to stay ahead of pain, have less pain afterwards with less need for opioids.

[00:00:49]>> The ERAS protocol combines robotics for minimally invasive surgery, targeted numbing, and a time schedule of non-opioid medications to take before, during, and after surgery.

[00:01:00]>> I never had to touch the more serious pain medications, opioids, or um never even had to take any.

[00:01:07]>> At Reprieve Recovery here in Jupiter, Daniel Warren tells me patients can be unaware of the physical symptoms of taking opioid medications while recovering from surgery.

[00:01:16]>> They'll take a substance for 2 weeks and they'll feel uncomfortable or they'll go through withdrawals and they don't even know why. Like they were never educated that you can withdraw from those medications.

[00:01:25]>> He knows the symptoms personally. He got sober at Reprieve Recovery 8 years ago and has spent the last seven working there to help others do the same.

[00:01:33]>> And that's definitely a step in the right direction.

[00:01:35]>> You can ask your doctor if the ERAS protocol is an option for you. And for more information about recovery options, visit wptv.com.

[00:01:44]In Jupiter, Samantha Gutierrez, WPTV News.