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Impact of policy-based and institutional interventions on postoperative opioid prescribing practices.
American journal of surgery
2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND: We assessed the impact of policy-based and institutional interventions to limit postoperative opioid prescribing.METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent laparoscopic/open appendectomies, laparoscopic/open cholecystectomies, and laparoscopic/open inguinal hernia repair during a 6-month interval in 2018 (control), 2019 (post-policy intervention), and 2020 (post-institutional intervention) to assess changes in postoperative opioid prescribing patterns. A survey was collected for the 2020 cohort.RESULTS: Comparing the 762 patients identified in 2018, 2019, and 2020 cohorts there was a significant decrease in mean opioid tabs prescribed (23.5±8.9 vs. 16.2±7.0 vs. 12.8±4.9, p<0.01) and mean OME dosage (148.0±68.0 vs. 108.6±51.8 vs. 95.4±38.0, p<0.01), without a difference in refill requests. Patient survey (response rate 63%) indicated 91.4% of patients reported sufficient pain control.CONCLUSION: Formalized opioid-prescribing guidelines and statewide regulations can significantly decrease postoperative opioid prescribing with good patient satisfaction. Surgeon education may facilitate efforts to minimize narcotic over-prescription without compromising pain management.
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2021.02.004
View details for PubMedID 33593614