Author(s)
Landon Larabee, BS
Aurelia Monk
Daniel Bacon, Mr.
Brian Thorp, MD, FARS
Charles Ebert, MD, FARS
Brent Senior, MD, FARS: Adam Kimple, MD, FARS
Affiliation(s)
University of North Carolina;
Abstract:
Background:
In 2017, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act, which limits opioid prescriptions to a five-day regimen for post-surgical pain. During implementation of the law, there was concern that these restrictions would be a burden to patients and providers if refills were frequently needed. We hypothesized the implementation of the STOP Act resulted in frequent opioid refills in the post-operative period. The aim of this study is to evaluate post-operative prescribing patterns and refill rates of narcotic prescriptions after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) and/or septoplasty.
Methods:
A retrospective review of electronic health records from January 2020 through December 2020 was performed. Patients who underwent FESS and/or a septoplasty at a large academic medical center were included in our analysis. The number of refills and pills prescribed were recorded. For patients receiving refills, previous opioid use was evaluated. Analysis was performed by descriptive statistics.
Results:
263 patients were identified and 252 had an opioid prescription. Amongst those patients who did receive a prescription (n=252), the refill rate was 3.6%. Of patients who received a refill, 66.7% had a history of opioid use. The average number of 5 mg oxycodone tablets prescribed was 13.5 tablets (standard deviation 4.5 tablets).
Discussion:
In a sample of 252 patients who underwent FESS and/or septoplasty and received post-operative opioids, an average of 13.5, 5 mg oxycodone tablets were prescribed with only 3.6% of patients receiving refills. The STOP Act does not appear to have generated a substantially high refill rate for opioids following FESS and/or septoplasty.