Opioid use and disposal at 2 weeks post-surgery: Brief communication regarding excess opioids and disposal habits
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5055/jom.0854Keywords:
orthopedic, opioid epidemic, opioid education, surgery, opioid useAbstract
Objective: To measure the number of unused prescription opioids and disposal habits of patients following orthopedic shoulder surgery.
Design: A prospective observational study.
Setting: Academic orthopedic sports medicine department.
Patients: Sixty-seven patients undergoing shoulder surgery.
Interventions: Nine-question opioid use questionnaire.
Main outcome measures: Responses to an opioid use questionnaire were collected at 2 weeks post-surgery. Outcomes of interest included the amount of initial opioid prescription used and the disposal of excess opioids.
Results: Sixty-seven patients completed the opioid use questionnaire. Forty-six (68.7 percent) patients reported having excess opioids at 2 weeks. Of the 46 patients with excess opioids, 57 percent disposed of the excess, and 43 percent planned to keep their opioids.
Conclusion: Two-thirds of the patients reported having excess opioids, highlighting the issue of an overabundance of unused prescription opioids in America. Utilization of opioid-free pain management strategies and drug disposal kits should be explored to reduce the number of unused and improperly disposed opioids.
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