UT Health San Antonio first in state to prescribe new, non-opioid drug for pain treatment

SAN ANTONIO – UT Health San Antonio is the first hospital in Texas to offer patients a new, non-opioid drug as a “first-line treatment for post-surgical pain.”

It’s called suzetrigine, and its use could also fight the opioid crisis.

Dr. Lee Rogers, clinical associate professor of orthopedics and chief of podiatry at UT Health San Antonio, told KSAT it’s a “game changer.”

“This new drug is something that’s going to really change the paradigm in how we manage acute pain and be able to give patients an option so that they won’t have the side effects from the opioids and don’t have any addiction risk,” said Rogers.

Often, adults who are in severe pain are prescribed opioids. The issue is that the class of drugs can come with unwanted side effects, like drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, constipation and physical dependence. Also, opioid prescriptions are linked to addiction.

“Any doctor I’ve spoken to about this recognizes this as a major problem in healthcare right now. The opioid crisis and managing people’s pain effectively enough, because it’s not humane to just be in pain. This isn’t a lesser pain medication. This actually is equivalent to the strong pain medicines that we use on a regular basis.”

Suzetrigine is sold under the brand name Journavx. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it back in January. It treats moderate or severe pain.

"[Suzetrigine] only acts on the peripheral nervous system. It interrupts the pain signal in the peripheral nervous system, not the central nervous system, so you don’t get any of the side effects that you normally would get with other very strong pain medications," said Rogers.

Studies have shown that the most common side effects of the drug include itching, muscle spasms, and rashes. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes it.

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