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.

Multimodal pain management is an integral part of enhanced recovery pathways. The most effective pain management strategies have not been determined. The purpose of this study was to compare liposomal bupivacaine transversus abdominis plane block with epidural analgesia in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. This is a single-institution, open-label randomized (1:1) trial. This study compared liposomal bupivacaine transversus abdominis plane block with epidural analgesia in patients undergoing elective open and minimally invasive colorectal surgery in an enhanced recovery pathway. Two hundred were enrolled. Following randomization, allocation, and follow-up, there were 92 patients with transversus abdominis plane block and 87 patients with epidural analgesia available for analysis. The interventions comprised liposomal bupivacaine transversus abdominis plane block versus epidural analgesia. The primary outcomes measured were numeric pain scores and the overall benefit of analgesia scores. There were no significant differences in the Numeric Pain Scale and Overall Benefit of Analgesia Score between groups. Time trend analysis revealed that patients with transversus abdominis plane block had higher numeric pain scores on the day of surgery, but that the relationship was reversed later in the postoperative period. Opioid use was significantly less in the transversus abdominis plane block group (206.84 mg vs 98.29 mg, p LIMITATIONS: This study was conducted at a single institution. This randomized trial shows that perioperative pain management with liposomal bupivacaine transversus abdominis plane block is as effective as epidural analgesia and is associated with less opioid use and less cost. These data and the more favorable risk profile suggest that liposomal bupivacaine transversus abdominis plane block is a viable multimodal perioperative pain management option for this patient population in an established enhanced recovery pathway. Clinical Trial Registration: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02591407). See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A737.

Background β-Lactam antibiotics are first-line therapy for perioperative prophylaxis; however, patient-reported allergies often lead to increased prescribing of alternative antibiotics that may increase the incidence of surgical site infections. The R-group side chain of the β-lactam ring is responsible for allergic cross-reactivity and experts recommend the use of β-lactams that are structurally dissimilar. Methods An internally developed, antibiotic side-chain–based cross-reactivity chart was developed and implemented alongside enhanced allergy assessment processes. This single-center, quasi-experimental study analyzed antibiotic prescribing in all adult patients with a documented β-lactam allergy undergoing an inpatient surgical procedure between quartile (Q) 1 (2012)–Q3 (2014) (historical group) and Q3 (2016)–Q3 (2018) (intervention group). Propensity-weighted scoring analyses compared categorical and continuous outcomes. Interrupted time-series analysis further analyzed key outcomes. Results A total of 1119 and 1089 patients were included in the historical and intervention cohorts, respectively. There was a significant difference in patients receiving a β-lactam alternative antibiotic between cohorts (84.9% vs 15.1%; P < .001). There was a decrease in 30-day readmissions in the intervention cohort (7.9% vs 6.3%; P = .035); however, there was no difference in the incidence of SSIs in patients readmitted (14.8% vs 13%; P = .765). No significant differences were observed in allergic reactions (0.5% vs 0.3%; P = .323), surgical site infections, in-hospital and 30-day mortality, healthcare facility–onset Clostridiodes difficile infection, acute kidney injury, or hospital costs. Conclusions Implementation of an antibiotic cross-reactivity chart combined with enhanced allergy assessment processes significantly improved the prescribing of β-lactam antibiotics for surgical prophylaxis.

Purpose Results of a study incorporating real-world results into a predictive model to assess the cost-effectiveness of procalcitonin (PCT)-guided antibiotic use in intensive care unit patients with sepsis are reported. Methods A single-center, retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to determine whether reductions in antibiotic therapy duration and other care improvements resulting from PCT testing and use of an associated treatment pathway offset the costs of PCT testing. Selected base-case cost outcomes in adults with sepsis admitted to a medical intensive care unit (MICU) were assessed in preintervention and postintervention cohorts using a decision analytic model. Cost-minimization and cost–utility analyses were performed from the hospital perspective with a 1-year time horizon. Secondary and univariate sensitivity analyses tested a variety of clinically relevant scenarios and the robustness of the model. Results Base-case modeling predicted that use of a PCT-guided treatment algorithm would results in hospital cost savings of $45 per patient and result in a gain of 0.0001 quality-adjusted life-year. After exclusion of patients in the postintervention cohort for PCT test ordering outside of institutional guidelines, the mean inpatient antibiotic therapy duration was significantly reduced in the postintervention group relative to the preintervention group (6.2 days versus 4.9 days, p = 0.04) after adjustment for patient sex and age, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, study period, vasopressor use, and ventilator use. Total annual hospital cost savings of $4,840 were predicted. Conclusion Real-world implementation of PCT-guided antibiotic use may have improved patients’ quality of life while decreasing hospital costs in MICU patients with undifferentiated sepsis.

BACKGROUND: The current opioid crisis has motivated surgeons to critically evaluate ways to balance postoperative pain while decreasing opioid use and thereby reducing opioids available for community diversion. The longest incision for robotic colorectal surgery is the specimen extraction site incision. Intracorporeal techniques allow specimen extraction to be at any location. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine if the Pfannenstiel location is associated with less pain and opioid use than other abdominal wall specimen extraction sites. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTINGS: Study of prospectively maintained colorectal surgery database (7/2018 through 10/2019). PATIENTS: Enhanced recovery robotic colorectal resections with specimen extraction were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Propensity score weighting was used to derive adjusted rates for numeric pain scores, inpatient opioid use, opioids prescribed at discharge, opioid refills after discharge, and other related outcomes. For comparing outcomes between groups, p-values were calculated using weighted chi-squared, Fisher’s exact, and t-tests. RESULTS: There were 137 (70.9%) cases with Pfannenstiel extraction site incisions and 56 (29.0%) at other locations (7 midline, 49 off-midline). There was no significant difference in transversus abdominis plane blocks and epidural analgesia use between groups. Numeric pain scores, Overall Benefit of Analgesia Scores, inpatient postoperative opioid use, opioids prescribed at discharge and taken after discharge, and opioid refills were not significantly different between groups. Non-opioid pain analgesics (acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, gabapentin) prescribed at discharge were significantly less in the Pfannenstiel group (90.19% vs. 98.45%, p=0.006). Postoperative complications and readmissions were not different between groups. LIMITATIONS: A single institution. CONCLUSION: The Pfannenstiel incision as the specimen extraction site choice in minimally invasive surgery is associated with similar postoperative pain and opioid use as extraction sites in other locations for patients having robotic colorectal resections. Specimen extraction sites may be chosen based on patient factors other than pain and opioid use. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/B495.

Background Opioid dependence is a public health crisis and surgery is a risk factor for long-term opioid use. Though minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is associated with less perioperative pain, demonstrating an association with less long-term opioid use would be another reason to justify adoption of minimally invasive techniques. We compared the rates for long-term opioid prescriptions among patients in a large national database who underwent minimally invasive and open colectomy. Methods Using the MarketScan Database, we retrospectively analyzed patients undergoing colon resection for benign and malignant diseases between 2013 and 2017. Among opioid-naïve patients who had ≥ 1 opioid prescriptions filled perioperatively (30 days before surgery to 14 days after discharge), propensity score matching was applied for group comparisons [open (OS) versus MIS, and laparoscopic (LS) versus robotic-assisted surgery (RS)]. The primary outcome was long-term opioid use defined as the proportion of patients with ≥ 1 long-term opioid prescriptions filled 90–180 days after discharge. Risks factors for long-term opioid use were assessed using logistic regression. Results Among the 5413 matched pairs in the MIS versus OS cohorts, MIS significantly reduced long-term opioid use of ‘any opioids’ (13.3% vs. 20.9%), schedule II/III opioids (11.7% vs. 19.2%), and high-dose opioids (4.3% vs. 7.7%; all p < 0.001). Among the 1195 matched pairs in the RS versus LS cohorts, RS was associated with less high-dose opioids (2.1% vs. 3.8%, p = 0.015) 90–180 days after discharge. Other risk factors for long-term opioid use included younger age, benign indications, tobacco use, mental health conditions, and > 6 Charlson comorbidities. Conclusion Minimally invasive colectomy is associated with a significant reduction in long-term opioid use when compared to OS. Robotic-assisted colectomy was associated with less high-dose opioids compared to LS. Increasing adoption of minimally invasive surgery for colectomy and including RS, where appropriate, may decrease long-term opioid use.