Opioid Consumption Rate After Foot and Ankle Surgery
Authors: Kvarda Peter , Hagemeijer Noortje , Waryasz Gregory R. , Guss Daniel , DiGiovanni Christopher W. , Johnson A. Holly 
Published: May 2019

Category:

Opioid consumption rate and risk factors investigation after foot and ankle surgery

Introduction/Purpose:

The rapid increase in the consumption of prescription opioids has become one of the leading medical, economical, and sociological burdens in North America. In the United States, orthopedic surgery is the fourth leading specialty in the number of opioids prescribed, and the largest among surgical specialties. There is insufficient evidence to guide surgeons about appropriate opioid prescription amounts after orthopaedic foot and ankle (F&A) procedures. The aim of this study was to determine the opioid consumption rate after foot and ankle procedures, and to identify patient risk factors associated with higher use.

Methods:

A total of 535 patients who underwent a F&A surgery performed by one orthopedic surgeon from August 2016 to March 2018 were investigated. The study was approved by our IRB. Each patient received a preoperative discussion about postoperative pain and expectations alongside a standardized handout. At the two-week postoperative visit, the patient-reported amount of consumed opioids was recorded. Prescription details, the amount of opioids taken, refill requests, pain-issue related telephone calls, and additional MD/ED visits were also documented. Patient demographics and co-morbidities, use of regional anesthesia, postoperative inpatient hospitalization, surgery type and severity, and pre-operative opioid use were collected retrospectively. Total amounts of morphine equivalents were calculated and converted into oxycodone 5 mg pills for standardization. P-values of <0.05 were considered significant.

Results:

Two hundred forty-four patients with a mean age of 50 years (±16.3) and a BMI of 29 (±6.1) were included. Sixty-six (27%) patients underwent a soft tissue procedure alone and 178 (73%) underwent a bony procedure. 225 (92.2%) patients received regional block. Patients reported that they consumed only 51.2% of prescribed pills after a bony procedure and 42.4% after a soft tissue procedure, respectively, which resulted in a total of 4,496.2 left over pills that derived from this study amongst only 244 patients enrolled. There were 11 refill requests (4.5%), two (0.8%) additional MD/ED visits, and 19 (7.8%) telephone calls related to pain. BMI, procedure type, and number of opioids prescribed were positively correlated with the consumption rate (P =.002, P<.001, P<0.001, respectively).

Conclusion:

BMI, surgery type (bony vs. soft tissue), and a higher number of pills dispensed were correlated with higher use in the postoperative period. After an educative discussion on postoperative pain, patients took 42.4% of the prescribed opioid after soft tissue procedures and 51.2% after bony procedures, resulting in a significant number of unused pills now available to the community. Future guidelines are necessary to improve our postoperative pain management, but this study suggests that current amounts of dispensed pills after orthopaedic F&A procedures are approximately twice as high as necessary.