Practical clinical trials can help find alternatives to opioids

Pressures on primary care doctors to move away from opioid pain management are increasing, but practitioners need practical, evidence-based information on how to employ multidisciplinary pain care successfully in everyday clinical practice. A senior investigator believes wider use of practical clinical trials and more emphasis on patient self-management are key solutions for achieving wider use of multidisciplinary pain care to improve patient function and help lower use and misuse of opioids.