Patients consume fewer opioid pills or don't use them if they are prescribed less, according to research published in the Journal of Arthroplasty.
Researchers studied 304 randomized, opioid-naive patients who were given either 30 or 90 5 milligram oxycodone immediate release (OxyIR) pills after total joint arthroplasty. Specifically, 161 patients received 30 pills and 143 received 90. Pain scores, opioid consumption and the number of unused pills were calculated for 30 days through the patient's medication diary.
The key details to know:
1. Patients who were given 30 pills let 15 go unused, while 73 went unused in the 90-pill group.
2. Ninety days after surgery, 26.7 percent of the 30-pill group patients requested a refill, compared to 10.5 percent in the 90-pill group.
3. Researchers found prescribing 90 OxyIR pills was associated independently with taking more of them.
4. There wasn't a difference in pain scores in either group 30 days after surgery. Additionally, there wasn't a difference in patient-reported outcome scores after six weeks.
5. Researchers concluded, "Prescribing fewer OxyIR pills is associated with a significant reduction in unused opioid pills and decreased opioid consumption with no increase in pain scores and no difference in patient-reported outcomes."