JANUARY 11, 2024
Recent data indicate that although surgery-related opioid prescribing continues to slow, the decrease has not brought the rate of prescriptions down to medically appropriate levels.
“In December 2022, the average opioid prescription from surgeons still contained approximately 44 pills, which is far more than most patients need after surgery,” study author Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, of the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health,
Recent data indicate that although surgery-related opioid prescribing continues to slow, the decrease has not brought the rate of prescriptions down to medically appropriate levels.
“In December 2022, the average opioid prescription from surgeons still contained approximately 44 pills, which is far more than most patients need after surgery,” study author Kao-Ping Chua, MD, PhD, of the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, in Ann Arbor, told Pain Medicine News.
The study analyzed over 140 million opioid prescriptions dispensed from surgeons between 2016 and 2022, covering nearly 68 million patients (JAMA Netw Open 2023;6[12]:e2346426).
Between January 2016 and December 2022, the monthly surgical opioid dispensing rate among the study group decreased from 661.2 to 426.0 prescriptions per 100,000 people. The rate of decrease was 0.89% per month during January 2016 to January 2020. A rebound in rates was observed by researchers from February to July 2020, and then declined at a slower pace of 0.45% per month from August 2020 to December 2022.
Monthly mean total morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per prescription decreased from 414.0 to 222.0 prescriptions during January 2016 to December 2022. From January 2016 to May 2017, the rate of decrease per month was 0.47%. This drop in prescriptions grew to its fastest rate of 1.34% per month from May 2017 to January 2020. From February to July 2020, there was a halt in the rate of decrease. The researchers reported that between August 2020 and December 2022, the MME per prescription slowed, but only at a rate of 0.39% per month.
“We found that the decline in opioid prescribing by surgeons is slowing, but we don’t know whether this slowing is temporary or not,” Chua concluded. “In future studies, we will continue to monitor opioid prescribing by surgeons using more recent data.”
—Myles Starr
Chua reported no relevant financial disclosures.
