Surgical procedures are key drivers of pain development and opioid utilization globally. Various organizations have generated guidance on postoperative pain management, enhanced recovery strategies, multimodal analgesic and anesthetic techniques, and postoperative opioid prescribing. Still, comprehensive integration of these recommendations into standard practice at the institutional level remains elusive, and persistent postoperative pain and opioid use pose significant societal burdens. The multitude of guidance publications, many different healthcare providers involved in executing them, evolution of surgical technique, and complexities of perioperative care transitions all represent challenges to process improvement. This review seeks to summarize and integrate key recommendations into a “roadmap” for institutional adoption of perioperative analgesic and opioid optimization strategies. We present a brief review of applicable statistics and definitions as impetus for prioritizing both analgesia and opioid exposure in surgical quality improvement. We then review recommended modalities at each phase of perioperative care. We showcase the value of interprofessional collaboration in implementing and sustaining perioperative performance measures related to pain management and analgesic exposure, including those from the patient perspective. Surgery centers across the globe should adopt an integrated, collaborative approach to the twin goals of optimal pain management and opioid stewardship across the care continuum.

Acute pain management is a challenging area encountered by inpatient clinicians every day. While patient care is increasingly complex and costly in this realm, the availability of applicable specialists is waning. This narrative review seeks to support diverse hospital-based healthcare providers in refining and updating their acute pain management knowledge base through clinical pearls and point-of-care resources. Practical guidance is provided for the design and adjustment of inpatient multimodal analgesic regimens, including conventional and burgeoning non-opioid and opioid therapies. The importance of customized care plans for patients with preexisting opioid tolerance, chronic pain, or opioid use disorder is emphasized, and current recommendations for inpatient management of associated chronic therapies are discussed. References to best available guidelines and literature are offered for further exploration. Improved clinician attention and more developed skill sets related to acute pain management could significantly benefit hospitalized patient outcomes and healthcare resource utilization.

One of the most durable approaches to perioperative enhanced recovery programming has culminated in the formation of perioperative organizations devoted to improvements in the quality of the surgical patient experience, such as the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS®) Society. Members of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Perioperative Care Practice and Research Network (PRN) and officials from the ERAS® Society present an opinion that: (1) identifies therapeutic options within each pharmacotherapy-intensive area of ERAS®; (2) generates applied research questions that would allow for comparative analyses of pharmacotherapy options within ERAS® programs; (3) proposes collaborative practice opportunities between key stakeholders in the surgical journey and clinical pharmacists to manage drug therapy problems and research questions; and (4) highlights examples of pharmacist-led cost savings attributed to ERAS® implementation. Clinical pharmacists, working in this manner with the perioperative team across the care continuum, have optimized pharmacotherapy towards measurable outcomes improvements, and stand ready to partner with inter-professional stakeholders and organizations to advance the care of our mutual patients.

The influence of pharmacotherapy regimens on surgical patient outcomes is increasingly appreciated in the era of enhanced recovery protocols and institutional focus on reducing postoperative complications. Specifics related to medication selection, dosing, frequency of administration, and duration of therapy are evolving to optimize pharmacotherapeutic regimens for many enhanced recovery protocolized elements. This review provides a summary of recent pharmacotherapeutic strategies, including those configured within electronic health record (EHR) applications and functionalities, that are associated with the minimization of the frequency and severity of postoperative complications (POCs), shortened hospital length of stay (LOS), reduced readmission rates, and cost or revenue impacts. Further, it will highlight preventive pharmacotherapy regimens that are correlated with improved patient preparation, especially those related to surgical site infection (SSI), venous thromboembolism (VTE), nausea and vomiting (PONV), postoperative ileus (POI), and emergence delirium (PoD) as well as less commonly encountered POCs such as acute kidney injury (AKI) and atrial fibrillation (AF). The importance of interprofessional collaboration in all periprocedural phases, focusing on medication management through shared responsibilities for drug therapy outcomes, will be emphasized. Finally, examples of collaborative care through shared mental models of drug stewardship and non-medical practice agreements to improve operative throughput, reduce operative stress, and increase patient satisfaction are illustrated.

Widely used in anesthetic management, sugammadex is increasingly employed in the reversal of neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) in the emergency department and critical care arena, where little evaluative data currently exists. This study explored the utility and safety of using sugammadex to facilitate neurologic assessments in critically ill, NMBA-exposed patients. We pursued a retrospective case series and single-arm cohort analysis of all brain-injured patients receiving sugammadex to facilitate neurologic evaluation during one year at a high-volume Level 1 trauma center. The primary outcome was the qualitative impact of sugammadex administration on neurosurgeon decision-making. Secondary outcomes included the change to Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and hemodynamic parameters compared before and after sugammadex administration. Sugammadex dosing was also assessed across various weight scalars to explore dose-response trends and generate preliminary guidance for use in this setting. Our study criteria yielded 12 sugammadex administrations across 11 patients, the majority of whom had sustained a traumatic brain injury. All sugammadex administrations were adjudicated as beneficial to neurosurgeon decision-making and 50% were associated with a change to prognosis and plan. Sugammadex was associated with an increase in the GCS of 1-8 points among the 67% of patients who responded. Mean arterial pressure decreased significantly after sugammadex administration (median 94 vs. 104 mmHg, p=0.0215, median change of -8 mmHg [95%CI -25-3 mmHg]). No apparent dose-response trends were observed for changes to GCS or hemodynamic parameters. The use of sugammadex to facilitate neurologic assessment after NMBA exposure in brain-injured patients was frequently associated with clinically meaningful changes to the neurologic exam and treatment plan. The risks of hemodynamic compromise and care complexity should be collaboratively weighed before pursuing this modality. An empiric sugammadex dose of 200 mg appears reasonable for this purpose, but further evaluation of NMBA reversal in the neurocritically ill outside of procedural settings is warranted.

Introduction: Antimicrobial stewardship has been cited as a crucial component of orthopaedic surgical care; however, limited high-quality data exist to guide antibiotic use across the total joint arthroplasty continuum. Antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) implementation and evaluation is needed in this space. Methods: We pursued a prospective, sequential cohort study of an interprofessional ASP for total joint arthroplasty (TJA) formed in late 2017 at the study institution. Twelve total evidence-based recommendations for protocol change were issued, with 11 accepted and implemented across three project phases spanning March 2018 to December 2019. The primary study outcome was the rate of optimal preoperative intravenous antibiotic selection as assessed for Baseline versus Postintervention time periods. Secondary outcomes included individual antibiotic utilization rates. Descriptive statistics were pursued for institutional surgical site infection (SSI) and postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) rates across the affected time frame. A cost-benefit analysis of the ASP was estimated from the institutional perspective. Results: The rate of optimal preoperative antibiotic selection increased from 64.9% in the Baseline Period (February 2018, n = 57) to 95.4% in the Postimplementation period (June 2018 to December 2019, n = 1,220) (P < 0.001). The rates of second-line preoperative antibiotics and total perioperative antibiotic exposures decreased. Total SSI and AKI rates in primary elective TJA seemed to decrease from calendar year 2018 to 2019 (deep SSI 1.00% to 0.22%, superficial SSI 0.66% to 0.00%, and AKI 1.97% to 1.03%). The institution realized an estimated $197,050 cost savings per 1000 TJA procedures. Discussion: A comprehensive ASP for TJA was associated with an increased use of optimal preoperative antibiotic selection, decreased total antibiotic exposures, and cost savings, without apparent detriment to SSI or AKI rates.