Pain Management in Surgical Treatment of Facial Fractures: Alternative Approaches to Opioid Use

Abstract

Study Design Literature review. Objective This review aims to explore current opioid use trends for surgical management of facial fractures, as well as methods and alternative treatments to decrease opioid use. Methods Review of selected literature from Medline and Google Scholar. Results Despite the devastating effects of the opioid epidemic and recent policy changes aimed at reducing unnecessary opioid prescription, opioids remain commonly used for pain management after facial fracture repair. Recently, use of multimodal analgesic therapy has been suggested to decrease opioid dosage utilized for post-operative pain control. Alternatives to medication therapies have been proposed for pain management; however, standardized recommendations for pain management in facial fracture patients remain unclear. Conclusions Further research is required to establish evidence-based recommendations for pain management in craniofacial fracture repair.