A Quality Improvement Initiative to Reduce Opioid Consumption after Cesarean Birth

One in 300 opioid naïve women become addicted to opiates after cesarean birth. After cesarean, women are often prescribed more opiates at discharge than necessary, resulting in increased opportunity for diversion.

To improve use of comfort strategies and nonopioid medications to decrease the amount of opioids required postoperatively and prescribed at discharge, in women who gave birth via cesarean.

An interdisciplinary workgroup was convened to assess data on opioid use, prescribing practices at discharge, and nurses' use of alternative comfort strategies from January to March 2018. A comfort bundle was designed to include standardized use of preoperative acetaminophen, postoperative comfort education, simethicone, postoperative gum chewing, and abdominal binders. Nurses and healthcare providers were educated on the initiative. Data were reevaluated and compared with preintervention data assessing for improvement and adherence to the bundle components.

There was a 61% reduction in morphine milliequivalents given to women after cesarean birth between the first quarter in 2018 and the fourth quarter in 2018. Comparing March with December, 2018 data, adherence to each bundle component improved. The percentage of women receiving less than 20 tabs of oxycodone at discharge increased from 26.3% to 96.7%.

Nurses should evaluate comfort options provided after cesarean birth and educate women about use of nonopioid pain relief strategies. A standardized process to address pain and comfort after cesarean birth may decrease exposure to opioids while maintaining comfort.