Reducing Opioid Overprescribing through Procedure-specific Prescribing Guidelines.

Publication/Presentation Date

1-1-2023

Abstract

UNLABELLED: Despite advances in opioid-sparing pain management, postdischarge opioid overprescribing in plastic surgery remains an issue. Procedure-specific prescribing protocols have been implemented successfully in other surgical specialties but not broadly in plastic surgery. This study examined the efficacy of procedure-specific prescribing guidelines for reducing postdischarge opioid overprescribing.

METHODS: A total of 561 plastic surgery patients were evaluated retrospectively after a prescribing guideline, which recommended postdischarge prescription amounts based on the type of operation, was introduced in July 2020. Prescription and postdischarge opioid consumption amounts before (n = 428) and after (n = 133) guideline implementation were compared. Patient satisfaction and prescription frequency of nonopioid analgesia were also compared.

RESULTS: The average number of opioid pills per prescription decreased by 25% from 19.3 (27.4 OME) to 15.0 (22.7 OME;

CONCLUSIONS: A procedure-specific prescribing model is a straight-forward intervention to promote safer opioid-prescribing practices in plastic surgery. Its usage in clinical practice may lead to more appropriate opioid prescribing.

Volume

11

Issue

1

First Page

4776

Last Page

4776

ISSN

2169-7574

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

36699205

Department(s)

Fellows and Residents

Document Type

Article

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