Examination of opioid prescribing guidelines on sinus surgery opioid prescription trends

To evaluate the trends in opioid and non-opioid prescribing for functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) in relation to the publication of guidelines by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) in April 2021.

This is a retrospective study utilizing de-identified patient data obtained from the TriNetX database including patients who were prescribed either opioid or non-opioid analgesics within 1-5 days following FESS from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023. To evaluate the trends of prescription before and after the new opioid prescription guidelines, interrupted time series analysis in Statistical Analysis System (SAS) 9.4 was performed with significance at p < 0.05.

Opioid prescription had an immediate increase by 0.87 % after guideline publication, but it was not statistically significant (p = 0.92). Throughout the rest of the study period, the trend decreased by 0.20 %, but it was not statistically significant (p = 0.35). For non-opioid prescriptions, there was a significant sustained increase in non-opioid prescriptions after the guideline change by 0.07 % (p = 0.03).

No associated decrease in opioid prescription for FESS after the guideline publication was observed. Non-opioid prescription did not have an immediate increase, but the trend increased in the post-publication period.