Black patients less likely to receive certain pain relief post-surgery, new research suggests

Recent findings reveal that Black patients are less frequently administered effective post-surgical pain management compared to White patients. Multimodal analgesia, an approach using multiple medications to minimize pain, reduces reliance on opioids. Despite expectations of equal treatment across races, research indicates that Black patients were more likely to be prescribed opioids and less likely to receive four or more modes of analgesia. 

The study emphasizes potential racial disparities in medical treatment, signaling systemic biases. Understanding and alleviating these biases are crucial to ensuring equitable healthcare. Additional data highlighted that minority patients are less likely to receive timely air medical transport in emergencies, a factor associated with improved survival rates post-trauma. There is an urgent need for healthcare policies to address these inequities, ensuring that non-clinical factors like race do not influence critical medical decisions.