Outpatient Opioid Use After Cesarean Delivery

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Pain Management
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Opioid abuse is a significant public health concern, with over-prescribing contributing to widespread availability.
• Limited data exist on precise patient opioid requirements post-cesarean delivery and predictive factors for these needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare inpatient, prescribed, and outpatient Morphine Equivalent Doses (MED) after cesarean delivery.
• To identify patient characteristics associated with varying opioid consumption patterns.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study of 76 women post-cesarean delivery, collecting demographic, opioid use, and clinical data.
• Statistical analyses included t-tests, ANOVA, linear regression, and Pearson correlations.
• Follow-up duration ranged from 2 to 5 weeks.

Main Results:

• 21% of women used all prescribed opioids; 20% used none.
• History of psychiatric comorbidities correlated with higher outpatient opioid use (172 MED vs. 103 MED; p=0.046).
• Outpatient opioid consumption significantly increased with higher inpatient use (p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• Opioid prescribing post-cesarean delivery may be optimized by aligning outpatient quantities with inpatient usage.
• Findings support that providers often over-prescribe opioids following cesarean delivery.
• Patient-specific factors are associated with outpatient opioid requirements.