Managing opioid consumption after caesarean delivery: a quality improvement initiative

Caesarean delivery is the most common major surgical procedure performed worldwide and pain management after caesarean delivery remains challenging. Finding a balance between sufficient postoperative pain relief and excess sedation secondary to opioids is often difficult in this patient population. This quality improvement project aimed to manage the amount of opioid consumption after caesarean delivery using a new postoperative analgesic regimen.

The current practice was analysed in 52 patients before introducing the new regimen. Oxycodone consumption, pain scores and quality of recovery were recorded. Following this pre-implementation audit, a new postoperative analgesic protocol was introduced. All patients received standard doses of intrathecal morphine, paracetamol and diclofenac. Regular oxycodone sustained-release (SR) was replaced with oxycodone immediate-release (IR) as needed. These changes also coincided with education to improve midwifery assessment of pain and the delivery of analgesia.

The outcome measures were re-audited in 178 patients which showed that oxycodone consumption had reduced median (IQR) 30 mg (20-40) vs 10 mg (5-15) (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the pain scores between the before and after groups at rest median (IQR) 2.0 (0-4.8) vs 2.0 (0.8-4.0) or at movement 5.0 (3.0-6.0) vs 5.0 (3.0-6.3) (p = 0.292, p = 0.482 respectively). The quality of recovery scores were also equivalent mean (SD) 78.6 (20.6) vs 77.8 (19.0) (p = 0.792).

The results of this study suggest that postoperative opioid consumption can be reduced with specific analgesic protocols and allow us to improve patient's quality of recovery.