Objective: This study evaluated the opioid sparing and pain relief effect of erector spinae plane block (ESPB) for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatic focal lesions under conscious sedation.
Design: A randomized controlled trial.
Setting: Tanta University Hospitals.
Patients: Fifty patients aged 30-60 years old and eligible for RFA of hepatic focal lesions were included.
Interventions: Patients randomized to receive either local anesthetic infiltration (group I) or ESPB (group II). Both groups received sedation by propofol infusion.
Main outcome measure(s): The primary outcome was total fentanyl consumption. Secondary outcomes were nonverbal pain score (NVPS), time to first analgesic request post-procedure, radiologist's satisfaction, and complications.
Results: In group I, NVPS was significantly increased at 10, 15, 25, and 30 minutes during RFA compared to group II (p = 0.008, <0.001, 0.018, and 0.001, respectively) with no significant differences on arrival to post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and after 1 hour. Total fentanyl consumption during the procedure was significantly increased in group I compared to group II (160.9 ± 38.2 and 76 ± 21 µg, respectively; p < 0.001) with prolonged time to first analgesia request post-procedure in group II compared to group I (392.7 ± 38.8 and 101.1 ± 13.6 minutes, respectively; p < 0.001). The level of radiologist's satisfaction was significantly increased in the group II (p = 0.010). Three patients in group I and one patient in group II needed general anesthesia. Lower incidence of complications in group II occurred with statistical insignificance.
Conclusions: The ESPB provided adequate analgesia and reduced opioids consumption during the hepatic RFA, with high radiologist's satisfaction.
Study objective: Pain management is a widely discussed topic, especially in the setting of the current opioid epidemic. Previous studies have shown that the use of opioids increased in the adult population. We aimed to look at the use of narcotic and non-narcotic pain medications at a large pediatric hospital to discern if patterns of pediatric pain management changed over time.
Methods: 58,402 analgesic prescriptions of patients 0-21 years of age were analyzed from May 2012 to November 2016. A logistic regression model was fitted to examine the association of age, sex, primary diagnosis, and the length of hospital stay with probability of opioid prescription.
Results: 36,560 patients aged 0-21 years (mean: 10.5, median: 11.0, and standard deviation (SD): 7.42) received analgesic pain medications. 21,847 (59.8 percent) patients were prescribed more than one analgesic. There was a male predominance in patients <15 years of age; however, in adolescents >16 years, females constituted 57.1 percent of patients. Data also showed a statistically significant reduction of opioid prescriptions from 2012 to 2016 (p < 0.001). Age and length of hospital stay were directly associated with opioid prescription (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Data show that there is a decrease in overall opioid prescriptions among pediatric patients, which may be secondary to new Food and Drug Administration regulations and increased awareness of morbidity associated with opioid use. Not surprisingly, increased hospital stay and increase in age lead to more analgesic prescriptions. Further investigation is needed to determine the differences within opioid prescription patterns.
Objective: The objective is to quantify the rate of opioid and benzodiazepine prescribing for the diagnosis of shoulder osteoarthritis across a large healthcare system and to describe the impact of a clinical decision support intervention on prescribing patterns.
Design: A prospective observational study.
Setting: One large healthcare system.
Patients and participants: Adult patients presenting with shoulder osteoarthritis.
Interventions: A clinical decision support intervention that presents an alert to prescribers when patients meet criteria for increased risk of opioid use disorder.
Main outcome measure: The percentage of patients receiving an opioid or benzodiazepine, the percentage who had at least one risk factor for misuse, and the percent of encounters in which the prescribing decision was influenced by the alert were the main outcome measures.
Results: A total of 5,380 outpatient encounters with a diagnosis of shoulder osteoarthritis were included. Twenty-nine percent (n = 1,548) of these encounters resulted in an opioid or benzodiazepine prescription. One-third of those who received a prescription had at least one risk factor for prescription misuse. Patients were more likely to receive opioids from the emergency department or urgent care facilities (40 percent of encounters) compared to outpatient facilities (28 percent) (p < .0001). Forty-four percent of the opioid prescriptions were for "potent opioids" (morphine milliequivalent conversion factor > 1). Of the 612 encounters triggering an alert, the prescribing decision was influenced (modified or not prescribed) in 53 encounters (8.7 percent). All but four (0.65 percent) of these encounters resulted in an opioid prescription.
Conclusion: Despite evidence against routine opioid use for osteoarthritis, one-third of patients with a primary diagnosis of glenohumeral osteoarthritis received an opioid prescription. Of those who received a prescription, over one-third had a risk factor for opioid misuse. An electronic clinic decision support tool influenced the prescription in less than 10 percent of encounters.
Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate opioid use trajectories among a sample of 10,138 Medicaid patients receiving one of six index surgeries: lumbar spine, total knee arthroplasty, cholecystectomy, appendectomy, colon resection, and tonsillectomy.
Design: Retrospective cohort.
Setting: Administrative claims data.
Patients and participants: Patients, aged 13 years and older, with 15-month continuous Medicaid eligibility surrounding index surgery, were selected from single-state Medicaid medical and pharmacy claims data for surgeries performed between 2014 and 2017.
Interventions: None.
Main outcome measures: Baseline comorbidities and presurgery opioid use were assessed in the 6 months prior to admission, and patients' opioid use was followed for 9 months post-discharge. Generalized linear model with log link and Poisson distribution was used to determine risk of chronic opioid use for all risk factors. Group-based trajectory models identified groups of patients with similar opioid use trajectories over the 15-month study period.
Results: More than one in three (37.7 percent) patients were post-surgery chronic opioid users, defined as the dichotomous outcome of filling an opioid prescription 90 or more days after surgery. Key variables associated with chronic post-surgery opioid use include presurgery opioid use, 30-day post-surgery opioid use, and comorbidities. Latent trajectory modeling grouped patients into six distinct opioid use trajectories. Associates of trajectory group membership are reported.
Conclusions: Findings support the importance of surgeons setting realistic patient expectations for post-surgical opioid use, as well as the importance of coordination of post-surgical care among patients failing to fully taper off opioids within 1-3 months of surgery.