Clinical economics: calculating the cost of acute postoperative pain medication

Few data are available that address the cost of postoperative pain management, although such knowledge would enhance our understanding of caregiver choices related to direct medical costs, such as type, frequency, and route of medication. This article describes the cost of postoperative pain medications before and after an educational program provided to nurses, pharmacists, and physicians in six community hospitals. Medication costs were calculated by averaging across all brands the average wholesale price of the most common dose administered in the sample for each medication. The median cost of postoperative pain medication across all days, all surgeries, was $9.46. Calculating the cost of acute postoperative pain medication suggested that cost over stay is highly influenced by the use of a few expensive medications. The relationship of medication cost to length of stay (LOS), function, and pain intensity is discussed.