Abstract
Importance:
There has been a greater awareness of the opioid epidemic. Studies are needed to better characterize opioid usage after outpatient nasal surgery.
Objective:
Provide data to guide prescription management for nasal procedures and investigate opioid prescription and subsequent consumption, with the aim of offering analysis to build evidence-based guidelines for postoperative pain management.
Design, Setting, and Participants:
In this prospective single-center study, morphine milligram equivalents (MME) consumption and pain scores were collected in 69 patients who underwent nasal surgery.
Main Measures and Outcomes:
Patient demographics, MME use, and pain scores were examined. MME use was compared with patient demographics, surgical procedure type, and postoperative pain scores.
Results:
In total, 3302 MME were prescribed: 2012 MME (61%) were used, leaving 1290 MME (39%). Patients were prescribed a total average of 47.8 ± 24.0 MME. Four (6%) patients required a second prescription. History of opioid use, benzodiazepine use, and obesity were negative predictors of opioid consumption (p ≤ 0.001).
Conclusion and Relevance:
Assessing opioid consumption for nasal procedures will guide prescribing practices. Our results indicate that prescription practices can likely be down titrated in patients with a history of certain medication consumption.
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