Interventions for Postsurgical Opioid Prescribing: A Systematic Review

Over the past 20 years, opioid misuse and opioid addiction have risen to epidemic proportions in the United States. One-third of adults receiving long-term opioid therapy report that their first opioid prescription came from a surgeon, indicating that postsurgical prescribing is an important point of intervention in the opioid epidemic. Such interventions differ from historical interventions on prescribing in that they must be closely monitored to ensure pain continues to be adequately controlled after surgical procedures. As evidence on nonopioid-based pain control grows, a key question is how to implement practice change in postsurgical discharge prescribing.

To examine interventions associated with changing opioid prescription practices on surgical discharge.

Studies published after 2000 that included interventions that aimed at postsurgical opiate stewardship and evaluated outcomes were included. PubMed and Embase were searched through March 2018 for relevant articles, with additional articles retrieved based on citations in articles retrieved in the initial search. Quality was assessed by 2 independent reviewers using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies, and quality scores were reconciled through discussion and mutual agreement.

Eight studies met inclusion criteria, of which 3 were preintervention and postintervention comparison studies, 3 were controlled clinical studies, 1 was a time-series study, and 1 compared postintervention results with a predetermined baseline. Interventions done at the organization level, including changes to electronic health records order sets and workflow, showed clear positive results. Additionally, 2 studies that centered on developing guidelines based on actual patient opioid use and disseminating these guidelines to clinicians reported reductions up to 53% in the quantity prescribed. No increases in emergency department visits or refill requests were reported in studies measuring these outcomes. However, 1 study focused on reducing the number of children who were prescribed codeine found via check-in telephone calls that 13 of 240 patients (5.4%) had inadequately controlled pain.

The studies reviewed provide evidence that clinician-mediated and organizational-level interventions are powerful tools in creating change in postsurgical opioid prescribing. This summary highlights paucity of high-quality studies that provide clear evidence on the most effective intervention at reducing postoperative opioid prescribing.