According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 841,000 Americans have died of drug overdoses since 1999. In 2019 alone, 49,860 people were killed by opioid-related overdoses — 70.6 percent of all drug overdose deaths. This was before COVID-19, which almost certainly accelerated drug-related suicide and death, though data are not yet available.
The opioid epidemic is rightly a focus of policymakers in Washington, of laws enacted by Congress and the states, and of local public health programs across the country. Yet, the body count keeps rising, and too many lives continue to be cut short.
As a neurosurgeon, I pay attention to these things. Take as an example spinal fusions, which are necessary operations but far from perfect. All too often, a spinal fusion is the gateway to opioid exposure. Responsible post-operative pain management allows patients to heal and participate in necessary physical and occupational therapy. Opioids have long been the mainstay therapy for post-operative pain, but admittedly for a lack of better options. Our goal is to facilitate patient recovery so that they can enjoy the quality of life they deserve.
Currently, if patients have persistent chronic back or leg pain after a successful fusion, they may become a candidate for neuromodulation therapy, but this typically occurs several years after the fusion and years of opioid medication use. Thankfully, the medical community and private companies are working on innovations to address the need for non-narcotic pain management therapies with earlier intervention.
For example, I am a co-investigator for a first-in-human study for SynerFuse, a Minnesota-based device company that seeks to integrate and co-localize existing spinal fusion with neuromodulation to address post-surgical and persistent chronic lower back pain. If the SynerFuse procedure proves effective on patient pain, as early indications suggest it can be, we may have an opioid-sparing pain management therapy that saves the healthcare system billions of dollars over time and provides better pain management outcomes for both patients and doctors.
With the more than 500,000 spinal fusions conducted in the United States each year, it is more important than ever to foster all innovative technologies that would allow us to spare our patients’ exposure to opioids. Companies like Synerfuse have made sparing opioids, reducing pain, and facilitating safe and effective patient recovery their paramount goals.
Governments (including Congress) can and should continue to pursue legislation to address the opioid crisis in our country. Pain management doctors should continue to offer responsible solutions to patients who suffer from chronic pain. Surgeons should do their best to offer access to any potential modalities to spare patients from the opioid crisis while facilitating necessary surgery.
Collectively, we should support private companies such as SynerFuse. Their innovative solutions are promising for the future of non-narcotic pain management for spinal surgeons and for pain management doctors and the patients they serve. As the number of spinal fusions increases year after year, these innovations would put a massive dent in the opioid crisis.
