Articles: opioid-analgesics.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 2022
Postoperative opioid prescribing, use and pain trends following general surgery procedures: a retrospective cohort study among veterans comparing non-opioid versus chronic opioid users.
Understanding postoperative opioid use patterns among different populations is key to developing opioid stewardship programs. ⋯ Non-opioid and chronic opioid users required very few opioid pills following surgery, and patients on chronic opioid therapy quickly returned to their baseline opioid use after a small opioid prescription at discharge. There was no difference in pain recovery between groups. Opioid prescribing guidelines should include patients on chronic opioid therapy and could consider recommending a more conservative prescribing approach.
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Increases in opioid prescribing contributed to the opioid epidemic in the U.S. Subsequent efforts to promote safer use of opioids for treating pain included augmenting prescription drug monitoring programs and prescribing guidelines. The purpose of this study is to characterize the distribution of opioids dispensed in the U.S. by specialty. ⋯ During a period in which prescribing interventions were expanded, opioid prescribing declined overall, although not uniformly by specialty.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · May 2022
Predictors of patient post-discharge opioid use after cesarean delivery: a prospective study.
The opioid crisis is a public health emergency in the United States of America. It is important to understand factors associated with outpatient opioid use. Our primary aim was to assess post-cesarean outpatient opioid use. The secondary aim was to identify characteristics associated with use. ⋯ Opioids were prescribed in excess of consumption and many patients did not use any opioids. Next steps include developing a prescribing algorithm to incorporate factors we found predictive of opioid use.
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Reducing excessive opioid prescribing in emergency departments (ED) may prevent opioid addiction. We evaluated the largest personalized feedback and peer comparison intervention to date on emergency clinician opioid prescription rates in a national emergency clinician group. ⋯ We demonstrated a large, sustained reduction in opioid prescribing by emergency clinicians using direct, personalized feedback to clinicians and an electronic dashboard for peer comparison.