Opioid Consumption Patterns and the Risk of Prolonged Opioid Use Among Opioid-Naïve Patients Following Ankle Fracture Surgery

• Main Authors: Hope Skibicki DO, Sundeep Saini DO, Ryan Rogero BS, Kristen Nicholson PhD, Rachel J. Shakked MD, Daniel Fuchs MD, Brian S. Winters MD, Steven M. Raikin MD, David I. Pedowitz MD, MS, Joseph N. Daniel DO
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2019-10-01
• Series: Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2473011419S00068

Category: Ankle Introduction/Purpose: Over the past two decades, the number of opioids dispensed in the United States has nearly tripled. Previous literature has demonstrated an association between acute opioid exposure and the risk of long-term opioid use. Statewide Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) have been implemented to deter overprescribing and help monitor information pertaining to suspected abuse. The purpose of this study was to assess the immediate postoperative opioid consumption patterns as well as the incidence of new prolonged opioid use among opioid naïve patients following ankle fracture surgery. Methods: This was a retrospective review of prospectively collected data. Patients were included if they underwent outpatient open reduction and internal fixation of an ankle or tibial plafond fracture between October 2016 and September 2017. Patients were excluded if they received any narcotic prescriptions prior to the date of the initial injury. Patient demographics, medical history, fracture pattern, and opioid prescription and consumption details were collected. The morphine equivalent dose was calculated for each prescription and then converted to the equivalent of a 5-mg oxycodone “pill”. The New Jersey PDMP was used to determine all prescriptions of controlled substances filled up to 1 year postoperatively. Prolonged use was defined as filling a postoperative prescription for a controlled substance 90 days after the index procedure. Linear regression analysis was performed to identify independent factors associated with immediate postoperative opioid consumption and repeated to identify factors associated with prolonged use. Results: One-hundred seventy-one patients were included in this study. At the first postoperative visit, patients consumed a median of 24 pills, whereas the median number prescribed was 40. This resulted in an initial utilization rate of 60% and 2,736 pills left unused. Additionally, we found that 18.7% (n=32) of patients required a narcotic prescription after 90 days from the index procedure. There was no statistically significant difference found between specific fracture type (isolated distal fibula, bimalleolar, trimalleolar) and prolonged opioid consumption, however tibial plafond fractures could not be included due to insufficient sample size (n=5). Patients with a self-reported history of depression (p=.094) or diabetes (p=.097) demonstrated marginal correlation with prolonged narcotic use. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that patients who underwent outpatient surgical fixation of an ankle or tibial plafond fracture were initially overprescribed narcotics by nearly 67%, leaving a significant quantity of pills unused for potential abuse or diversion. 18.7% of originally opioid naïve patients required continued analgesia 90 days after the index procedure, however large variations in consumption rates make it difficult for physicians to predict prolonged narcotic use.