Sex Differences in Opioid-Sparing Regimen Prescribing Following Ventral Hernia Repair

While sex differences are known to have a clinically relevant impact on the response to pain therapy, current data are still largely equivocal on sex-specific postoperative pain management. The aim of this study is to determine whether sex predicts differences in pain management in patients undergoing ventral hernia repair (VHR).

This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data for VHR from the Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative. The study population included all opioid-naïve adults, undergoing nonemergent initial management of uncomplicated VHR. Multinominal logistic regression was used to explore if postoperative opioid regimens differed by patient sex.

The final study population included 1325 males (mean age 54 y, 86.7% White, 62.9% open repairs, 75.9% mesh) and 827 females (mean age 51, 75.7% White, 52.5% open repairs, 69.5% mesh). Unadjusted analysis showed that an opioid sparing regimen was offered to 62.27% female patients and 66.34% male patients. Adjusted analysis demonstrated female patients were less likely to receive an opioid-sparing pain regimen when compared to male patients (odds ratio = 0.647, 95% confidence interval: (0.46-0.909), P = 0.012).

Despite having a higher analgesic response than their male counterparts, as well as having a significantly lower morphine consumption postoperatively, female patients were less likely to receive an opioid-sparing regimen. These results show that there is a pressing need to educate clinicians on how sex-specific differences in pain and analgesia may affect opioid prescribing practices. Enhancing clinician awareness about sex-specific differences in pain and analgesia could potentially inform better prescribing practices and promote more equitable postoperative care.