Opioid Prescribing After Cesarean Delivery

Surgery Clinical Trial

Official title: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve Discharge Opioid Prescribing After Cesarean Delivery

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The number of opioid overdose deaths in the United States has quadrupled in 15 years, a dramatic manifestation of the current opioid abuse epidemic. This rise parallels a sharp increase in the amount of legal prescription opioids dispensed. The abundance of prescription opioids available is a primary pathway for opioid abuse and diversion. Adjusting post- cesarean delivery opioid prescribing practices to better match actual patient need has the potential to reduce unused opioids available for diversion, nonmedical use, and development of chronic dependence, as well as reduce wasted resources.

Clinical Trial Description

Preliminary data from a quality improvement project performed in our department found that most women are prescribed opioids after discharge that were significantly in excess of the actual opioids used. However there is a subset of women (~25%) who use all opioids and complain that they were not prescribed enough. The only variable predictive of post- discharge opioid use was Inpatient opioid use. These data were used to develop a formula for estimating outpatient use based on inpatient use. Currently there are no guidelines for outpatient prescribing either at our institution or on a national level. On average, most patients at our institution received 30 tablets of 5mg oxycodone at discharge. In surveying providers, very few looked at inpatient use and most had a standard prescription that they gave everyone. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Opioid Use
• Surgery

• NCT number: NCT03168425
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 14, 2017
• Completion date: September 21, 2017