At-home Administration of Opioid Analgesia in Children After Reduction of Forearm Fracture

Controversy exists surrounding which agents best provide analgesia in children with fractures. Prior studies have demonstrated that ED visits for fracture-related pain have the highest rates of opioid prescribing. Studies have also found that NSAIDs are equivalent at controlling acute fracture-related pain. In a time when one must balance the risk of inadequate pain control with potential opioid misuse, providers have little data to guide them in terms of the best recommendations for adequate pain control at home.

This prospective observational study investigates parental pain management practices after ED discharge for children who underwent a forearm fracture reduction. Surveys filled out by parents were used to gather data on the proportion of children discharged with an opioid prescription, the number of doses of opioid that were administered after discharge, and parental satisfaction with their child's pain control.

We analyzed data for 61 patients who completed the postdischarge survey. Of these, 62% received a prescription for oxycodone at discharge, and 50% used at least 1 dose of oxycodone at home. The median number of doses administered at home, 1.5 (IQR, 0-3), was significantly lower than the number of doses of oxycodone prescribed, 10 (IQR, 5-12) ( P < 0.001). Parents reported a high level of satisfaction with the medications received at discharge with nearly all ranging between 4 (satisfied) and 5 (very satisfied) (median, 5; IQR, 4-5). No significant difference was detected in the satisfaction between families who received a prescription for oxycodone at discharge (median, 5; IQR, 4-5) and those who did not (median, 5; IQR, 4-5) ( P = 0.28).

We observed a large range in the number of doses of oxycodone prescribed at discharge and a significant difference between the number of doses being prescribed and those being used by families. A prescription of 2 doses of oxycodone would be sufficient to treat postreduction pain in the majority of children.