Stanford Medicine News Center covers new research led by Dr. Eric Sun from the Stanford Division of Pain Medicine. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, describes the incidence of and risk factors for chronic opioid use among opioid-naïve patients in the postoperative period. The study highlights which patients may be particularly vulnerable. Read the JAMA story here.

The Stanford Medicine News Story (author: Tracie White) includes a discussion about how to treat pain differently to minimize risks. I was pleased to weigh in about how to treat pain comprehensively with pain psychology skills and to describe our current presurgical research on this topic.

Dr. Sun’s coauthors included Dr. Laurence Baker, myself, and Dr. Sean Mackey.