To Örebro University

BACKGROUND: Adequate postoperative pain treatment is important for quality of life, patient satisfaction, rehabilitation, function, and total opioid consumption, and might lower both the risk of chronic postoperative pain and the costs for society. Prolonged opioid consumption is a well-known risk factor for addiction. Previous studies in upper extremity surgery have shown that total opioid consumption is a third of the amount prescribed, which can be explained by package size. The aim of this study was to examine whether implementation of prepacked takehome analgesia bags reduced the quantity of prescribed and dispensed opioids.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We introduced prepacked take-home analgesia bags for postoperative pain treatment in outpatient surgery. The bags came in two sizes, each containing paracetamol, etoricoxib, and oxycodone. The first 147 patients who received the prepacked analgesia bags were included in the study, and received a questionnaire one month after surgery covering self-assessed pain (visual analog scale of 0-10) and satisfaction (0-5), as well as opioid consumption. Prescription data after introducing the analgesia bags were compared with data before the bags were introduced.

RESULTS: Of the 147 patients included in the study, 58 responded. Compared to standard prescription (small bag group: 14 oxycodone immediate release capsules (5 mg), large bag group: additional 28 oxycodone extended release tablets (5 mg), based on the smallest available package), the patients in the small analgesia bag group received 50% less oxycodone and 67% less for the large bag group. Patients with small bags consumed a median of 0.0 mg oxycodone and those with large bags consumed a median of 25.0 mg oxycodone. The median satisfaction was 5.0 (range: 2-5) and the median pain score was acceptable at the first postoperative day. Prescription data showed a significant reduction of 60.0% in the total amount of prescribed opioids after the introduction of prepacked analgesia bags.

CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of prepacked analgesia bags dramatically reduced the quantity of opioids prescribed after outpatient hand surgery. Patient satisfaction was high and the postoperative pain level was acceptable.