The Journal of arthroplasty
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The opioid crisis pressures orthopedic surgeons to reduce the amount of narcotics prescribed for post-operative pain management. This study sought to quantify post-operative opioid use after hospital discharge for primary unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients. ⋯ Significantly more narcotics were prescribed than were taken in the post-operative period following TKA with an average 53.1 excess narcotic pills per patient. Adjusting prescribing patterns to match patient narcotic usage could reduce the excess narcotic pills following TKA.