New Jersey Emergency Room Tries Treating Most Patients Without Opioids

A hospital emergency room in New Jersey has started a program that treats most patients without opioids before considering using them. In the first two months, 75 percent of the 300 patients have gone through the program did not need opioids, according to the Associated Press.

The Alternatives to Opiates program is being implemented in New Jersey’s busiest emergency room at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson. Patients with cancer or those with chronic pain who are already dependent on opioids are not included in the program, according to Mark Rosenberg, Chairman of Emergency Medicine at St. Joseph’s.

The program is designed for patients with ailments such as kidney stones, acute low back pain, broken bones, acute headache and migraine pain, according to a  hospital news release. It uses targeted non-opioid medications, trigger point injections, nitrous oxide, and ultrasound-guided nerve blocks to treat pain.

Rosenberg said before the program was implemented, a patient with a dislocated shoulder might have been prescribed opioids. Now the ER administers a nerve block to numb the area while the shoulder is put back in place. Once the nerve block wears off, it can be followed by non-opioid pain relievers such as acetaminophen. “We have to get over the acute pain episode,” he said. “Really the first 24 to 48 hours are the worst. If I can get you over that, you’re going to feel a lot better.”