Does Altering Narcotic Prescription Methods Affect Opioid Distribution Following Select Upper Extremity Surgeries?

NCT03570320 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 201804820
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 48
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

It has been well established that prescription opioid misuse and prescription opioid abuse is on the rise. In the late 1990's and early 2000's, there was a large push to make "pain" the fifth vital sign. At the same time, direct-to-consumer advertising and changes in national guidelines laid the groundwork for a decade that would ultimately see the amount of narcotic prescriptions in the United States more than double, and the number of prescription-opioid related deaths more than quadruple. Recently, providers have started to question their own role in this epidemic. In the field of orthopedics in particular, considerable emphasis is now being placed on developing a better understanding of patients postoperative pain requirements, and amending practices to continue to meet those requirements while at the same time responsibly limiting the amount of narcotics that are prescribed. The goal of this project is to further this line of research by testing an opioid prescription model that is designed to easily reconcile clinical practices for prescribing pain medications with individual patient needs. The investigators propose to evaluate a new method for prescribing opioid pain medications that consists of giving patients smaller amounts of narcotics with easier access to refills. It is hypothesized that in this system, patients will ultimately obtain fewer pills from the pharmacy, and will have fewer pills left over following their post-operative recovery. To test this hypothesis, a randomized controlled trial has been designed wherein patients will be given either one single prescription for opioid medications (control group, representing current practice) or multiple small prescriptions for opioid medications that they may fill on an as-needed basis (intervention group). The total amount of narcotics prescribed to both groups will be the same; only the number of prescriptions and the size of each prescription will be altered. Unused narcotic medications are ripe for diversion and may potentially be playing a significant role in the opioid abuse crisis that we are experiencing in the United States. Developing strategies to minimize left over pills while maintaining adequate pain control is perhaps one of the most crucial first steps in addressing this important issue. The success of this model could have broad implications across the healthcare profession. From surgery to emergency medicine and even primary care, this model would be easy to implement and may provide an effective way for the medical community to start to combat the opioid epidemic.

Conditions

Opioid Use

Keywords

opioid; narcotic; postoperative; prescription; refill; upper extremity surgery

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Number of pills dispensed from a pharmacy to patients

  Investigators will track how many pills were dispensed from a pharmacy to patients in each group.

  For each patient, this outcome will be assessed out to 8 weeks postoperatively or when the patient is no longer requiring pain medications.

Study Arms (2)

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

The first treatment group will be our control arm. On discharge following their surgery, these patients will receive a single prescription for 225 Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MMEs). This corresponds to #30 pills of 5mg oxycodone/acetaminophen, #45 pills of 5mg hydrocodone/acetaminophen, or #30 pills of 7.5mg Morphine.

Interventional Arm

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients who are randomized into the second group will also receive prescriptions for 225 MME's on discharge following their surgery, however their medications will be broken up equally into 3 separate scripts, each for 75 MME's. This corresponds to 3 scripts for #10 pills of 5mg oxycodone/acetaminophen, 3 scripts for #15 pills of 5mg hydrocodone/acetaminophen, or 3 scripts for #10 pills of 7.5mg Morphine. Each script will be post-dated to ensure that patients wait the appropriate amount of time between filling their scripts, and that they cannot fill multiple scripts on the same day or at the same time.

Other: Modification of opioid prescription method

Interventions

Modification of opioid prescription method OTHER

Patients in the interventional arm of the study will receive post-op opioid medications in three small prescriptions as opposed to one large prescription. They may fill these prescriptions as needed.

Interventional Arm

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Patients at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics will be eligible for this study if they are over the age of 18 and are undergoing outpatient ORIF of isolated unilateral distal radius fractures or first CMC joint arthroplasty.

You may not qualify if:

• Patients will be excluded if they are undergoing surgery for an infection, receiving revision surgery, have multiple injuries that require narcotic use, have a history of chronic narcotic use, or cannot provide informed consent.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• John Yanik: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa, 52242, United States

Location

Related Publications (15)

• Brat GA, Agniel D, Beam A, Yorkgitis B, Bicket M, Homer M, Fox KP, Knecht DB, McMahill-Walraven CN, Palmer N, Kohane I. Postsurgical prescriptions for opioid naive patients and association with overdose and misuse: retrospective cohort study. BMJ. 2018 Jan 17;360:j5790. doi: 10.1136/bmj.j5790.

  PMID: 29343479 BACKGROUND

• Caudill-Slosberg MA, Schwartz LM, Woloshin S. Office visits and analgesic prescriptions for musculoskeletal pain in US: 1980 vs. 2000. Pain. 2004 Jun;109(3):514-519. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2004.03.006.

  PMID: 15157714 BACKGROUND

• Clark DJ, Schumacher MA. America's Opioid Epidemic: Supply and Demand Considerations. Anesth Analg. 2017 Nov;125(5):1667-1674. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000002388.

  PMID: 29049112 BACKGROUND

• Dwyer MK, Tumpowsky CM, Hiltz NL, Lee J, Healy WL, Bedair HS. Characterization of Post-Operative Opioid Use Following Total Joint Arthroplasty. J Arthroplasty. 2018 Mar;33(3):668-672. doi: 10.1016/j.arth.2017.10.011. Epub 2017 Oct 16.

  PMID: 29128235 BACKGROUND

• Florence CS, Zhou C, Luo F, Xu L. The Economic Burden of Prescription Opioid Overdose, Abuse, and Dependence in the United States, 2013. Med Care. 2016 Oct;54(10):901-6. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000625.

  PMID: 27623005 BACKGROUND

• Jones CM, Paulozzi LJ, Mack KA. Sources of prescription opioid pain relievers by frequency of past-year nonmedical use United States, 2008-2011. JAMA Intern Med. 2014 May;174(5):802-3. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.12809. No abstract available.

  PMID: 24589763 BACKGROUND

• Kim N, Matzon JL, Abboudi J, Jones C, Kirkpatrick W, Leinberry CF, Liss FE, Lutsky KF, Wang ML, Maltenfort M, Ilyas AM. A Prospective Evaluation of Opioid Utilization After Upper-Extremity Surgical Procedures: Identifying Consumption Patterns and Determining Prescribing Guidelines. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2016 Oct 19;98(20):e89. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.15.00614.

  PMID: 27869630 BACKGROUND

• Levin P. The Opioid Epidemic: Impact on Orthopaedic Surgery. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2015 Sep;23(9):e36-7. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-15-00250. Epub 2015 Aug 13. No abstract available.

  PMID: 26271757 BACKGROUND

• Macintyre PE, Huxtable CA, Flint SL, Dobbin MD. Costs and consequences: a review of discharge opioid prescribing for ongoing management of acute pain. Anaesth Intensive Care. 2014 Sep;42(5):558-74. doi: 10.1177/0310057X1404200504.

  PMID: 25233168 BACKGROUND

• Manchikanti L, Helm S 2nd, Fellows B, Janata JW, Pampati V, Grider JS, Boswell MV. Opioid epidemic in the United States. Pain Physician. 2012 Jul;15(3 Suppl):ES9-38.

  PMID: 22786464 BACKGROUND

• Morris BJ, Mir HR. The opioid epidemic: impact on orthopaedic surgery. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2015 May;23(5):267-71. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-14-00163.

  PMID: 25911660 BACKGROUND

• Rodgers J, Cunningham K, Fitzgerald K, Finnerty E. Opioid consumption following outpatient upper extremity surgery. J Hand Surg Am. 2012 Apr;37(4):645-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2012.01.035. Epub 2012 Mar 10.

  PMID: 22410178 BACKGROUND

• Sabatino MJ, Kunkel ST, Ramkumar DB, Keeney BJ, Jevsevar DS. Excess Opioid Medication and Variation in Prescribing Patterns Following Common Orthopaedic Procedures. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2018 Feb 7;100(3):180-188. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.17.00672.

  PMID: 29406338 BACKGROUND

• Soffin EM, Waldman SA, Stack RJ, Liguori GA. An Evidence-Based Approach to the Prescription Opioid Epidemic in Orthopedic Surgery. Anesth Analg. 2017 Nov;125(5):1704-1713. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000002433.

  PMID: 29049115 BACKGROUND

• Tetrault JM, Butner JL. Non-Medical Prescription Opioid Use and Prescription Opioid Use Disorder: A Review. Yale J Biol Med. 2015 Sep 3;88(3):227-33. eCollection 2015 Sep.

  PMID: 26339205 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• John M Yanik, MD

  University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Resident Physician

Model Details: Control arm versus interventional arm

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 15, 2018
• First Posted: June 26, 2018
• Study Start: September 4, 2018
• Primary Completion: February 29, 2020
• Study Completion: February 29, 2020
• Last Updated: March 24, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)