Publications
OPEN examines data, clinical practices and strategies to support better pain management, opioid stewardship, policy, treatment and care.
Probability of Opioid Prescription Refilling After Surgery: Does Initial Prescription Dose Matter?
Sekhri S, Arora NS, Cottrell H, et al. Probability of Opioid Prescription Refilling After Surgery: Does Initial Prescription Dose Matter?. Ann Surg. 2018;268(2):271-276. doi:10.1097/SLA.0000000000002308- Approximately 9% of patients who were not using opioids preoperatively refilled an opioid prescription after surgery.
- The probability of a patient refilling a postoperative opioid prescription was not correlated with their initial prescription strength.
- Surgeons could prescribe smaller opioid prescriptions without influencing the probability of a refill request.