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Opioid Prescribing and Use After Pediatric Umbilical Hernia Repair

Matthew L Lee1, Lauren B Camp1,2, Mehul V Raval3,4

  • 14285 Division of Pediatric Surgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.

The American Surgeon
|July 21, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Surgeon education significantly reduced opioid prescribing and filled prescriptions for pediatric umbilical hernia repair. This approach improved pain control and patient outcomes without increasing adverse events.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Pain Management
  • Opioid Stewardship

Background:

  • Opioid overuse is a significant public health concern affecting both adult and pediatric populations.
  • Physician education is a potential strategy to promote appropriate opioid prescribing and patient education on safe use.
  • Pediatric umbilical hernia repair (UH) provides a model to evaluate the impact of surgeon education on opioid prescribing and use.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of surgeon education on opioid prescribing patterns and patient-reported outcomes following pediatric umbilical hernia repair.
  • To assess changes in prescription filling and parent-reported pain control after educational interventions.
  • To analyze the effectiveness of opioid stewardship strategies in a pediatric surgical setting.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective substudy was conducted involving children undergoing UH before and after a surgeon educational intervention.
  • Data collected included opioid and non-opioid prescriptions, prescription fill rates, patient medication use, and pain control effectiveness.
  • Adverse events were systematically recorded and compared between pre- and post-education groups.

Main Results:

  • Opioid prescribing decreased from 98.7% to 61.6% (P < .0001) after education, with a corresponding increase in non-opioid prescriptions (P = .0063).
  • The number of filled opioid prescriptions significantly decreased (P = .0296).
  • The post-education group reported good pain control, with no significant difference in adverse events observed.

Conclusions:

  • Surgeon education effectively improves opioid prescribing and reduces opioid use in pediatric umbilical hernia repair.
  • Educational interventions promote opioid stewardship without compromising patient pain control or clinical outcomes.
  • This strategy offers a viable approach to mitigate opioid overuse in pediatric surgical care.
Abstract

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