ArticleJournal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews2022
Postoperative Pain Medication Utilization in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Sports Orthopaedic Surgery: Characterizing Patient Usage Patterns and Opioid Retention.
Article in Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Regional Anesthesia Utilizing Liposomal Bupivacaine, With or Without Dexamethasone, Provides Excellent Pain Control and Minimizes Opioid Consumption Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Comparing Provider and Adolescent Estimates of Postoperative Opioid Use.The Journal of surgical research · 2025Article
- Pain After Lower Extremity Fracture Surgery: What Is Normal and How Is It Impacted by Individual-specific and Caregiver-specific Psychosocial Factors?Journal of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America · 2025Article
- Post-discharge opioid utilization patterns in orthopedic patients are underestimated: an explorative study.Pain management · 2025Article
- Evaluation of inguinal sonoanatomy regarding pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block in children: the relation of femoral artery, femoral nerve, lateral femoral cutaneous nerve and iliopsoas notch.BMC anesthesiology · 2025Observational
- Postoperative Opioid Prescription Practices at Discharge for Pediatric Orthopaedic Patients: A Systematic Review.Journal of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America · 2024Review
- Postoperative Opioid Usage and Disposal Strategies After Arthroscopic Procedures in a Young Cohort: A Prospective Observational Study.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionOpioid overprescribing is a problem in orthopaedic surgery, with many patients having leftover opioid medications after surgery. The purpose of our study was to capture utilization patterns of opioids in pediatric patients undergoing orthopaedic sports medicine surgery, in addition to evaluating patient practices surrounding unutilized opioid medication. Our hypothesis was that there would be low utilization of opioids in this patient population and would in turn contribute to notable overprescribing of opioids and opioid retention in this population.
methodsPediatric patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery for knee and hip pathology were prospectively enrolled. A survey was administered 14 days postoperatively, with questions centered on the patient-reported number of opioids prescribed, number of opioids used, number of days opioids were used, and incidences of leftover opioid medication and disposal of leftover medication. The magnitude of opioid overprescribing was calculated using the reported prescribed and reported used number of opioid pills. Linear regression was used to examine associations between opioids and NSAIDs prescribed.
resultsOne hundred fourteen patients reported a mean prescription of 12.0 ± 5.0 pills, with utilization of 4.4 ± 6.1 pills over 2.7 ± 5.1 days. Patients were prescribed 2.73 times the number of opioid pills required on average. One hundred patients (87.7%) reported having unused opioid medication after their surgery, with 71 (71.0%) reporting opioid retention. Regression results showed an association with opioids used and prescribed opioid amount (β = 0.582, R = 0.471, P < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Overall, our study results help characterize the utilization patterns of opioid medications in the postsurgical pediatric sports orthopaedic population and suggest that orthopaedic surgeons may be able to provide smaller quantities of opioid pills for analgesia than is typically prescribed, which in turn may help reduce the amount of prescription opioid medications present in the community. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.
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