Resident Opioid Prescribing Habits Do Not Reflect Best Practices in Post-Operative Pain Management: An Assessment of the Knowledge and Education Gap

Outcomes of an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) program to limit perioperative opioid use in outpatient minimally invasive GI and hernia surgeries

BACKGROUND

Perioperative pain management is important for patient satisfaction while returning to homeostasis in the safest way possible. Studies show that patients don't require as much opioids as once thought. The benefits of ERAS pathways extend beyond enhancement of patients' perioperative experience, and include reducing opioid prescriptions in the face of the ongoing nationwide opioid crisis and evidence of prescription opioids as a contributor.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing same day minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedures for GI and hernia disease using a minimal-opioid ERAS protocol at two community hospitals between January 2020 and May 2022. We included elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) for acute appendicitis without perforation, and minimally invasive (laparoscopic and robotic) inguinal and ventral hernia repair or abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR). Primary outcome was postoperative opioid use.

RESULTS

A total of 509 patients were included, undergoing procedures of MIS hernia repair (52.5%), LC (43.6%), and LA (7.9%). Only 9.4% of patients received opioid prescriptions at discharge, with no difference between groups. Among the patients receiving a prescription at discharge, there was a significant difference in morphine milligram equivalents (MME) prescribed (25.0 ± 0.0 in the LA group, 65.0 ± 41.4 in the LC group, 100.6 ± 46.2 in the MIS hernia/AWR group; P = 0.015). Nine percent of patients called with pain management concerns postoperatively. ASA score ≥ 3 was associated with increased odds for postoperative opioid prescription (OR 2.084; P = 0.014).

CONCLUSIONS

We demonstrate that an opioid-sparing ERAS program effectively manages pain for patients undergoing multiple outpatient MIS GI/hernia procedures, and suggests generalizability across a diverse range of operations. Therefore, the use of ERAS may safely and effectively expand beyond inpatient MIS and open surgeries that target reduced length of stay to also minimize opioids for outpatient procedures.

Surgical Trainee Perspectives on the Opioid Crisis: The Influence of Explicit and Hidden Curricula

OBJECTIVE

In order to effectively create and implement an educational program to improve opioid prescribing practices, it is important to first consider the unique perspectives of residents on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic. We sought to better understand resident perspectives on opioid prescribing, current practices in pain management, and opioid education as a needs assessment for designing future educational interventions.

DESIGN

This is a qualitative study using focus groups of surgical residents at 4 different institutions.

SETTING

We conducted focus groups using a semistructured interview guide in person or over video conferencing. The residency programs selected for participation represent a broad geographic range and varying residency sizes.

PARTICIPANTS

We used purposeful sampling to recruit general surgery residents from the University of Utah, University of Wisconsin, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. All general surgery residents at these locations were eligible for inclusion. Participants were assigned to focus groups by residency site and their status as junior (PGY-2, PGY-3) or senior resident (PGY-4, PGY-5).

RESULTS

We completed 8 focus groups with a total of 35 residents included. We identified 4 main themes. First, residents relied on clinical and nonclinical factors when making decisions about opioid prescribing. However, hidden curricula based on unique institutional cultures and attending preferences heavily influenced residents' prescribing practices. Second, residents acknowledged that stigma and biases towards certain patient groups influenced opioid prescribing practices. Third, residents encountered barriers within their health systems to evidence-based opioid prescribing. Fourth, residents did not routinely receive formal education on pain management or opioid prescribing. Residents recommended several interventions to improve the current state of opioid prescribing, including standardized prescribing guidelines, improved patient education, and formal training during the first year of residency.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study highlighted several areas of opioid prescribing that can be improved upon through educational interventions. These findings can be used to develop programs aimed at improving residents' opioid prescribing practices, both during and after training, and ultimately the safe care of surgical patients.

ETHICS STATEMENT

This project was approved by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board, ID # 00118491. All participants provided written informed consent.

Postoperative opioid protocol: A 5-year resident-led effort to standardize prescribing patterns

OBJECTIVES

The combined impact of variable surgeon prescribing preferences and low resident prescribing comfort level can lead to significant disparity in opioid prescribing patterns. We report an update on the expanded scope of this now 5-year, resident led initiative to standardize postoperative prescription practices within the Department of Otolaryngology.

METHODS

With Institutional Review Board approval, performed a retrospective review of 12 months before (July 2016 - June 2017) and 48 months after (July 2019-June 2021) implementation of the Expanded Postoperative Analgesia Protocol. The Pre-Protocol and Expanded Protocol cohorts were compared using ANOVA, chi-squared and Fisher Exact tests, with ANCOVA and binary logistic regression for covariate analysis. Cost impact was calculated using average medication spending data for 2018-2019.

RESULTS

470 patients were included in the Pre-Protocol cohort (54 % male, mean age 35 years) and 679 in the Expanded Protocol cohort (63 % male, mean age 36 years). The protocol was effectively implemented as reflected in the reduction of combination opioid medications from 429 (91.3 %) to 26 (3.8 %) (87 % reduction, 95 % CI 86 % to 89 %, p < .001). The protocol resulted in a 66 % reduction in average morphine milligram equivalents per patient (333 mg to 114 mg, mean reduction 219 mg, 95 % CI 206 mg to 232 mg, p < .001), a 68 % reduction in medication refills (refill rate 20 % to 6 %; 14 % reduction, 95 % CI 12 % to 16 %, p < .001) and a 74 % reduction in cost of postoperative medications ($93.82 to $24.64 per patient).

CONCLUSION

Through purposeful standardization, this 5-year resident led effort resulted in sustained changes to departmental wide prescribing practices yielding reduced variability, reduced cost, improved opioid management and superior pain control for postoperative patients.

Addressing an epidemic: Improving guideline-concordant opioid prescribing in surgical patients

BACKGROUND

Excess postoperative opioid prescribing increases the risk of opioid abuse, diversion, and addiction. Clinicians receive variable training for opioid prescribing, and despite the availability of guidelines, wide variations in prescribing practices persist. This quality improvement initiative aimed to assess and improve institutional adherence to published guidelines.

METHODS

This study represented a quality improvement initiative at an academic medical center implemented over a 6-month period with data captured 1 year before and after implementation. The quality improvement initiative focused on prescribing education and monthly feedback reports for clinicians. All opioid-naïve, adult patients undergoing a reviewed procedure were included. Demographics, surgical details, hospital course, and opioid prescriptions were reviewed. Opioids prescribed on discharge were evaluated for concordance with recommendations based on published guidelines. Pre- and postimplementation cohorts were compared.

RESULTS

There were 4,905 patients included: 2,343 preimplementation and 2,562 postimplementation. There were similar distributions in patient demographics between the 2 cohorts. Guideline-concordant discharge prescriptions improved from 50.3% to 72.2% after the quality improvement initiative was implemented (P < .001). Adjusted analysis controlling for sex, age, discharge clinician, length of stay, outpatient surgery, and procedure demonstrated a 190% increase in odds of receiving a guideline-concordant opioid prescription on discharge in the postimplementation cohort (adjusted odds ratio 2.90; 95% confidence interval = 2.55-3.30).

CONCLUSION

This study represented a successful quality improvement initiative improving guideline-concordant opioid discharges and decreasing overprescribing. This study suggested published guidelines are insufficient without close attention to elements of effective change management including the critical importance of locally targeting educational efforts and suggested that real-time, data-driven feedback amplifies impact on prescribing behavior.

Impact of an Educational Intervention on the Opioid Knowledge and Prescribing Behaviors of Resident Physicians

Objectives: The opioid epidemic is a multifactorial issue, which includes pain mismanagement. Resident physician education is essential in addressing this issue. We aimed to analyze the effects of an educational intervention on the knowledge and potential prescribing habits of emergency medicine (EM), general surgery (GS), and internal medicine residents (IM).

Methods: Resident physicians were provided with educational materials and were given pre-tests and post-tests to complete. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze pre-test and post-test responses. Chi-squared analysis was used to identify changes between the pre-tests and post-tests. A p < 0.05 value was considered statistically significant. 

Results: Following the educational intervention, we observed improvement in correct prescribing habits for acute migraine management among emergency medicine residents (from 14.8% to 38.5%). Among general surgery residents, there was a significant improvement in adherence to narcotic amounts determined by recent studies for sleeve gastrectomy (p= 0.01) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (p= 0.002). Additionally, we observed a decrease in the number of residents who would use opioids as a first-line treatment for migraines, arthritic joint pain, and nephrolithiasis.

Discussion: Resident physicians have an essential role in combating the opioid epidemic. There was a significant improvement in various aspects of opioid-related pain management among emergency medicine, internal medicine, and general surgery residents following the educational interventions. We recommend that medical school and residency programs consider including opioid-related pain management in their curricula.