Earlier in 2018, OrthoCarolina
Research Institute (OCRI) launched the Carolinas Opioid Reduction Effort (CORE) Project. The CORE Project is the first OCRI research study spanning numerous surgical procedures across multiple sub-specialties within OrthoCarolina. As we begin 2019, we would like to highlight the incredible progress we have made with the CORE project in 2018. You can read more about the CORE Project here.
Notable Events in 2018
Did You Know?
What an Amazing Team Effort!
During 2018, we opened the CORE study at 4 surgical locations and have started working on the addition of two other surgical locations. This is a huge undertaking! For each new location, a large number of tasks need to take place behind the scenes: presenting the study idea, getting the location leadership on board, working with various anesthesia members at each location to build the protocol and ensure proper patient care/safety, submitting/presenting to IRB (ethics board) for approval, and training a large variety of nursing and other site staff to ensure study cooperation.
Patients involved in the study have had favorable results. One patient in the opioid-free group sent this message to study staff: “I am in far less pain than I anticipated. I have not been nauseous. Waking up after the surgery feeling clear and coherent without any queasiness was much improved over my last experience, which is ironic because that was the experience I was dreading the most. I would actually request being opiate free based on my experience of waking up after surgery again. I really love the clarity of mind right after surgery.”
We’re very proud of the work being done and thank all our physicians, surgery site partners, and research staff for contributing in 2018 to such an important project. We look forward to being able to share more updates as we move forward in 2019!
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