Post-Surgery Opioid Prescribing Decline Continues—but at Slower Pace
While prescribing of opioid-containing pain relief medications for surgery patients has declined over the past 7 years, a recent study of pharmacy data by researchers at the University of Michigan shows that the rate of decrease has slowed since 2020.
Findings from the study were published this month in JAMA Network Open.
Overall, surgery-related opioid prescriptions dropped by 36% from 2016 to 2022, and the average amount of opioids in such prescriptions declined by 46% over the same period. As a result, the total amount of prescription opioid pain killers dispensed in late 2022 was down 66% from early 2016 levels.
However, Michigan researchers found the rate of decline in opioid prescribing slowed considerably with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, even after taking into account a dramatic reduction in elective surgeries. As of late 2022, surgery patients in the US received the equivalent of 44 5-mg hydrocodone pills from pharmacies after surgery, an amount that Michigan researchers said is significantly greater than needed for most procedures.
“These data suggest surgical teams have substantially reduced opioid prescribing, but also suggest that efforts to right-size opioid prescriptions after surgery must continue,” study senior author Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at U-M, said in a news release.
Study first author Jason Zhang, a former U-M research assistant who now attends medical school at Northwestern University, added that surgeons should focus on right-sizing opioid prescriptions, not eliminating them entirely.
“The goal should be to ensure that opioids are only prescribed when necessary, and that the amount of opioids prescribed matches the amount that patients need,” Zhang said in the release. “Achieving these goals could help reduce the risk of opioid misuse, persistent opioid use, and diversion of pills to other people besides the patient.”
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