Early In-Hospital Pain Control is a Stronger Predictor for Patients Requiring a Refill of Narcotic Pain Medication Compared to the Amount of Narcotics Given at Discharge

The United States is combating an opioid epidemic. Orthopedic surgeons are the third highest opioid prescribers and therefore have an opportunity and obligation to assist in the efforts to reduce opioid use and abuse. In this paper we evaluate risk factors for patients requiring an opioid refill after primary total knee arthroplasty, with the goal to reduce opioid prescriptions for those patients at low risk of requiring a refill in order to reduce the amount of unused medication.

Source: The Journal of Arthroplasty - March 4, 2019 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Benjamin K. Wilke, Devon Foster, Christopher Roberts, Glenn G. Shi, Elizabeth R. Lesser, Michael G. Heckman, Joseph L. Whalen, Steven R. Clendenen Source Type: research