Impact of opioid prescribing guidelines on prescribing at discharge from endocrine surgery

In 2018, our institution implemented opioid prescribing guidelines for endocrine surgery.

We evaluated prescribing trends before and after the guidelines (60 MME following adrenal procedures and 37.5 MME for thyroid/parathyroid procedures) using chi-squared and Wilcoxon Rank-Sum tests.

We identified 357 patients in the pre-guideline and 397 in the post-guideline period. The proportion discharged with any opioid prescription decreased from 96.1% to 77.3%, p < 0.01, and the median (IQR) prescribed amount decreased from 150.0 (100.0, 200.0) to 50.0 (25.0, 75.0), p < 0.01 overall and within each category. The proportion receiving prescription above the upper guidelines limit also decreased, while opioid refills within 30-day of discharge remained stable (2.8% before and 4.5% after the guidelines, p = 0.21).

Opioid prescribing guidelines for endocrine surgical procedures decreased both the proportion of patients receiving opioids and the amount when prescribed, therefore further supporting the utility of opioid prescribing guidelines in decreasing over-prescription.