Pain Control and Medication Use in Children Following Closed Reduction and Percutaneous Pinning of Supracondylar Humerus Fractures: Are We Still Overprescribing Opioids?

Conclusions: Pediatric patients have been overprescribed opioids after operative treatment of supracondylar humerus fractures at our institution. Families who report pain scores>5 of 10 and/or persistent opioid use beyond postoperative day 5 warrant further clinical evaluation. Two of 3 pain outliers in this study experienced a minor postoperative complication. With appropriate parental counseling, satisfactory pain control can likely be achieved with acetaminophen and ibuprofen for most patients. If oxycodone is prescribed for breakthrough pain, then the authors recommend limiting to
Source: Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Trauma Upper Extremity Source Type: research