Decreased opioid prescribing in children using an enhanced recovery protocol
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Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗Article · Mar 2019 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
Enhanced Recovery Protocol implementation in pediatric gastrointestinal surgery reduced both hospital length of stay and postdischarge opioid prescribing. Study of 99 patients undergoing elective procedures showed decreased intraoperative opioid use from 100% to 46% and reduced discharge prescriptions, demonstrating effective multimodal pain management in children.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Background
A previously implemented Enhanced Recovery Protocol (ERP) for children undergoing elective gastrointestinal operations demonstrated decreased length of stay (LOS) and in-hospital opioid use. We hypothesized that the ERP would be associated with decreased postdischarge opioid prescribing.
Methods
Demographic, operative, and opioid prescription data were retrospectively compared between elective gastrointestinal surgical patients in the pre-ERP (1/2012–12/2014) and the post-ERP periods (1/2015–12/2017).
Results
Of the 99 patients reviewed, 56 (56.7%) were treated in the post-ERP era. Overall, 48 (48.5%) were male, and the most common operation was partial or total colectomy (n = 39, 39.4%) followed by ileocecectomy (n = 26, 26.3%). Most patients were 15–16 years of age and had inflammatory bowel disease (n = 88, 88.9%). LOS decreased from a median 4 days pre-ERP to 3 days post-ERP (p = 0.02). Patients receiving intraoperative opioids decreased from 100% to 46% (p