Nerve blocks: Fighting opioid addiction with safer pain management

The overuse of opioids in health care over the last two decades has had devastating effects. The development of the ultrasound-guided nerve block has revolutionized the field of anesthesia and is part of an important and necessary shift in the conversation about how we manage pain. Not only championing its use in the surgical setting, Joseph Marino, MD, Northwell’s senior vice president for anesthesia, is now expanding its use to emergency departments in Staten Island, Westchester and Long Island. The team responsible for implementing this approach at Staten Island University Hospital share their experiences using the femoral nerve block for certain painful ailments, like hip fractures. They include:  Joshua Greenstein, MD, Assistant Medical Director, Department of Emergency Medicine Maria Tama, MD, co-director, division of emergency ultrasound in the hospital’s Department of Emergency Medicine Simone Rudnin, DO, co-director, division of emergency ultrasound, Department of Emergency Medicine and director, emergency medicine clerkship