Background: The appropriate use of narcotics for postoperative pain control is controversial because of potential medication-induced complications. The authors sought to determine the effects of narcotics in the pediatric population following cranial vault remodeling operations.
Methods: A retrospective review was performed on 160 consecutive patients who underwent cranial vault remodeling for craniosynostosis.
Results: There was a statistically significant difference in total morphine equivalents in the group that experienced no emesis and those with at least one episode of emesis (0.97 morphine equivalents/kg versus 1.44 morphine equivalents/kg; p = 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in hospital morphine equivalents in the group with documented respiratory events (average, 2.3 morphine equivalents/kg versus 1.3 morphine equivalents/kg in the nonevent group; p = 0.006). The patients who received dexmedetomidine had a trend toward a decrease in hospital narcotic administration with equivalent pain control (1.2 morphine equivalents/kg versus 1.9 morphine equivalents/kg; p = 0.09). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between total morphine equivalents for the hospitalization and hospital stay ( r = 0.27, p = 0.001). The amount of morphine equivalents used in the first 24 hours was also found to be an independent predictor of a respiratory event ( p = 0.002 by multivariate logistic regression). Independent positive predictors of hospital stay were age ( p < 0.001), intensive care unit time ( p < 0.001), and total morphine equivalents for the hospitalization ( p = 0.001) by multivariate analysis with linear regression.
Conclusion: The authors' study demonstrates improvement in outcomes with decreased use of narcotics, which establishes that there is a need to further explore postsurgical recovery outcomes with multimodal pain control.
Clinical question/level of evidence: Therapeutic, III.
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