Background:

Interventions designed to decrease opioid prescribing in orthopaedics have been effective when employed by specific institutions, subspecialties, and procedures. The objectives of this study were to examine the effectiveness of developing regional guidelines on opioid-prescribing practices after common orthopaedic surgical procedures, to determine whether compliance with the guidelines varied by procedure, and to measure the effect of the guidelines on patient satisfaction. All objectives were assessed at 1 participating institution.

Methods:

In February 2018, 53 orthopaedic surgeons representing 8 practices in Western New York attended a summit meeting to collaboratively create regional opioid-prescribing guidelines for 70 common orthopaedic procedures; these guidelines were later distributed electronically to all orthopaedists in Western New York. We retrospectively examined opioid-prescribing practices for adults undergoing an orthopaedic surgical procedure performed by 1 large practice in October 2017, 4 months before the summit meeting (776 patients), and in July 2018, 5 months after the summit meeting (653 patients). The number of opioid pills prescribed postoperatively and patient satisfaction were compared before and after the summit meeting using t tests.

Results:

The overall mean number of opioid pills (and standard deviation) prescribed postoperatively decreased from 69.5 ± 45.5 pills before the summit to 43.3 ± 28.0 pills after the summit (p < 0.0001). Sports medicine surgeons reduced the number of pills prescribed for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, knee arthroscopy with meniscectomy, and shoulder arthroscopy with decompression; and adult reconstruction surgeons reduced the number of pills prescribed for total hip and knee arthroplasty. There was no change in the number of pills prescribed for lumbar spine fusion or implant removal. Satisfaction with the provider did not differ from before to after the summit; 75% of patients in the pre-summit group and 76% of patients in the post-summit group reported receiving excellent service (p = 0.62).

Conclusions:

The creation of regional opioid-prescribing guidelines in a collaborative fashion was assessed at 1 participating institution and was found to be effective at reducing the number of opioid pills prescribed by the orthopaedic surgeons participating in the project without affecting patient satisfaction, but adherence to the guidelines varied by procedure.