St. George medical center utilizes regional anesthesia rather than opioids to treat post-surgical pain

Dixie Regional Medical Center has been working to shift post-surgical pain management away from opioids and toward regional anesthesia, with more Intermountain Healthcare hospitals to soon follow suit. Dixie Regional instituted a program about 10 years ago to help prevent overuse of opioids and manage chronic pain, according to Dr. Reed Y. Nelson, medical director of the Acute Pain Services at the hospital.