Objective: To measure our opioid prescription rate, determine if our rate has decreased since 2019, and identify areas for future interventions to further decrease our opioid prescription rate.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all pediatric urology patients (age ..±18 years) who underwent a procedure between October 1, 2020 and October 22, 2021. We collected data on opioid prescribing, age, sex, surgeon, procedure, ethnicity, and race. We grouped procedures into 6 categories: circumcision, cystoscopy with the removal of foreign body/stone/stent, scrotal surgery, hypospadias repair/penile surgery, pyeloplasty/ureteral reimplant, and others.
Results: We analyzed 821 operative cases. Only 2.2% (18/821) of discharges included an opioid prescription. The prescription rate of 1 pediatric urologist was 4.6% (17/369), which was higher than the other 2 practitioners... (0.40%, 1/250%, and 0%, 0/202) (P.ß<.ß.001). The median age of patients who received an opioid prescription was older than patients without an opioid prescription (16.5 vs.ß5.0 years, P.ß<.ß.001). Surgery performed in an inpatient setting was more likely to result in an opioid prescription (9.7%, 3/31) than in the outpatient setting (1.9%, 15/790) (P.ß=.ß.03). No adverse effects of reduced opioid usage were noted.
Conclusion: From October 2020 to October 2021, our institution had an opioid prescription rate of 2.2%. This represented a decrease from our previously reported rate of 8% in 2019. At the same time, we found no significant pain issues in our post-operative patients. Seventeen out of 18 prescriptions were written under 1 provider. Though heightened awareness has made a difference, targeted feedback is needed if we wish to reduce opioid usage further.
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