Abstract
Background
Current research on opioid use within orthopedic surgery has focused on efforts to identify patients at risk for chronic opioid use. Studies addressing prevention of opioid misuse related to orthopedic care are lacking. Evidence-based interventions to reduce the reliance on opioids for post-operative pain relief will be a key component of any comprehensive institutional opioid policy.
Questions/Purposes
The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate institutional strategies that reduce opioid administration or consumption after orthopedic surgery.
Methods
Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist, a search was conducted of the PubMed database for English-language articles that analyzed interventions by physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, or other hospital staff to reduce post-operative opioid use or narcotic prescription amounts after surgery. Studies that contained objective outcome measures (i.e., no expert opinion articles) were selected. Investigations on the effect of pharmacologic adjuvants, cryotherapy, or regional nerve blockades on opioid use were excluded.
Results
The initial search yielded 6598 titles, of which 13 full-text articles were ultimately selected for inclusion in this systematic review. The review identified two major categories of interventions—patient-focused and provider-focused (e.g., physicians, nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists). Formal patient education programs were most effective in reducing opioid use. On the provider side, prescribing guidelines appear to decrease the overall number of pills prescribed, often without changes in patient satisfaction or requests for refills.
Conclusions
Researchers are just beginning to establish the most effective ways for institutions to reduce opioid use and promote responsible post-operative prescribing. Institutional prescribing guidelines, standardized bedside pain-management programs, and formal patient education curriculums are all evidence-based interventions that can achieve these goals. The available research also supports an interprofessional approach in any institutional opioid-reduction strategy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cui C, Wang L-X, Li Q, Zaslansky R, Li L. Implementing a pain management nursing protocol for orthopaedic surgical patients: Results from a PAIN OUT project. J Clin Nurs. 2018;27:1684–1691.
Dwyer CL, Soong M, Hunter A, Dashe J, Tolo E, Kasparyan NG. Prospective evaluation of an opioid reduction protocol in hand surgery. J Hand Surg Am. 2018;43(6):516–522.e1.
Earp BE, Silver JA, Mora AN, Blazar P. Implementing a postoperative opioid-prescribing protocol significantly reduces the total morphine milligram equivalents prescribed. J Bone Jt Surg Am. 2018;100:1698–1703.
Egbert LD, Battit GE, Welch CE, Bartlett MK. Reduction of postoperative pain by encouragement and instruction of patients. N Engl J Med. 1964;270:825–827.
Genord C, Frost T, Eid D. Opioid exit plan: a pharmacist’s role in managing acute postoperative pain. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2017;57:S92–S98.
Goesling J, Moser SE, Zaidi B, et al. Trends and predictors of opioid use after total knee and total hip arthroplasty. Pain. 2016;157:1259–1265.
Gupta A, Kumar K, Roberts MM, et al. Pain management after outpatient foot and ankle surgery. Foot Ankle Int. 2018;39(2):149–154.
Helmerhorst GTT, Lindenhovius ALC, Vrahas M, Ring D, Kloen P. Satisfaction with pain relief after operative treatment of an ankle fracture. Injury. 2012;43:1958–1961.
Hill M V, Stucke RS, Mcmahon ML, Beeman JL, Barth RJ. An educational intervention decreases opioid prescribing after general surgical operations. Ann Surg. 2018;267(3):468–472.
Holman JE, Stoddard GJ, Horwitz DS, Higgins TF. The effect of preoperative counseling on duration of postoperative opiate use in orthopaedic trauma surgery: a surgeon-based comparative cohort study. J Orthop Trauma. 2014;28:502–506.
Howard R, Alameddine M, Klueh M, et al. Spillover effect of evidence-based postoperative opioid prescribing. J Am Coll Surg. 2018;227:374–381.
Howard R, Waljee J, Brummett C, Englesbe M, Lee J. Reduction in opioid prescribing through evidence-based prescribing guidelines. JAMA Surg. 2018;153:285–287.
Kumar K, Gulotta LV, Dines JS, et al. Unused opioid pills after outpatient shoulder surgeries given current perioperative prescribing habits. Am J Sports Med. 2017;45:636–641.
Lovecchio F, Derman P, Stepan J, et al. Support for safer opioid prescribing practices. J Bone Jt Surg. 2017;99:1945–1955.
Mintken PE, Moore JR, Flynn TW. Physical therapists’ role in solving the opioid epidemic. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2018;48:349–353.
Mohamadi A, Chan JJ, Lian J, Wright CL, Marin AM, Rodriguez EK, et al. Risk factors and pooled rate of prolonged opioid use following trauma or surgery. J Bone Jt Surg. 2018;100:1332–1340.
Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, PRISMA Group. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. BMJ. 2009;339:332–336.
Nickel BT, Klement MR, Byrd WA, Attarian DE, Seyler TM, Wellman SS. The James A. Rand Young Investigator’s Award: battling the opioid epidemic with prospective pain threshold measurement. J Arthroplasty. 2018;33(7S):S3–S7.
Nooromid MJ, Mansukhani NA, Deschner BW, et al. Surgical interns: Preparedness for opioid prescribing before and after a training intervention. Am J Surg. 2018;215:238–242.
Olsen KR, Hall DJ, Mira JC, et al. Postoperative surgical trainee opioid prescribing practices (POST OPP): an institutional study. J Surg Res. 2018;229:58–65.
Pasero C, Quinlan-Colwell A, Rae D, Broglio K, Drew D. American Society for Pain Management Nursing position statement: prescribing and administering opioid doses based solely on pain intensity. Pain Manag Nurs. 2016;17:170–180.
Premkumar A, Lovecchio F, Stepan JG, et al. A novel mobile phone text messaging platform improves collection of patient-reported post-operative pain and opioid use following orthopedic surgery. HSS J. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-018-9635-3 [Epub ahead of print].
Sabatino MJ, Kunkel ST, Ramkumar DB, Keeney BJ, Jevsevar DS. Excess opioid medication and variation in prescribing patterns following common orthopaedic procedures. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2018;100:180–188.
Scher C, Meador L, Van Cleave JH, Reid MC. Moving beyond pain as the fifth vital sign and patient satisfaction scores to improve pain care in the 21st century. Pain Manag Nurs. 2018;19:125–129.
Schoenfeld AJ, Jiang W, Chaudhary MA, Scully RE, Koehlmoos T, Haider AH. Sustained prescription opioid use among previously opioid-naive patients insured through TRICARE (2006-2014). JAMA Surg. 2017;152(12):1175–1176.
Soffin EM, Waldman SA, Stack RJ, Liguori GA. An evidence-based approach to the prescription opioid epidemic in orthopedic surgery. Anesth Analg. 2017;125:1704–1713.
Stanek JJ, Renslow MA, Kalliainen LK. The effect of an educational program on opioid prescription patterns in hand surgery: a quality improvement program. J Hand Surg Am. 2015;40:341–346.
Stepan JG, Sacks HA, Lovecchio FC, et al. Opioid prescriber education and guidelines for ambulatory upper-extremity surgery: evaluation of an institutional protocol. J Hand Surg Am. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhsa.2018.06.014.
Sun EC, Darnall B, Baker LC, Mackey S. Incidence of and risk factors for chronic opioid use among opioid-naive patients in the postoperative period. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(9):1286–1293.
Syed UAM, Aleem AW, Wowkanech C, et al. Neer Award 2018: the effect of preoperative education on opioid consumption in patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: a prospective, randomized clinical trial. J Shoulder Elb Surg. 2018;27(6):962–967.
van Dijk JFM, Kappen TH, Schuurmans MJ, van Wijck AJM. The relation between patients’ NRS pain scores and their desire for additional opioids after surgery. Pain Pract. 2015;15:604–609.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
Francis Lovecchio, MD, Ajay Premkumar, MD, MPH, and Jeffrey G. Stepan, MD, MSc, declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Todd J. Albert, MD, reports receiving royalties from Zimmer Biomet, DePuy Synthes, JP Medical Publishers, Saunders/Mosby-Elseveir, and Thieme; owning stock in Gentis, Vital 5, Bonovo Orthopedics Inc., Biomerix, InVivo Therapeutics, Spinicity, Crosstrees Medical, Paradigm Spine LLC, Invuity, ASIP, PMIG, Pioneer, and Vertech; receiving personal fees from Nuvasive, Gentis, United Health Care, and Facet Link and non-financial support from Scoliosis Research Society; receiving salary from Hospital for Special Surgery and Weill Cornell Medical College and grants from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, ISSG, Alan L. and Jacqueline B. Stuart Spine Research Center, all outside the submitted work.
Human/Animal Rights
N/A
Informed Consent
N/A
Required Author Forms
Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the online version of this article.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lovecchio, F., Premkumar, A., Stepan, J.G. et al. Fighting Back: Institutional Strategies to Combat the Opioid Epidemic: A Systematic Review. HSS Jrnl 15, 66–71 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-018-09662-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-018-09662-y