Objective: Excessively prescribed opioids promote chronic drug abuse and worsen a highly prevalent public health problem in the era of the opioid epidemic. This study aimed to (a) determine general analgesic prescription patterns after surgery for vestibular schwannoma (VS) with a focus on opioid prescription rates, (b) identify risk factors for receiving narcotics for postoperative pain management, and (c) highlight the feasibility of opioid-free analgesic treatment strategies.
Study design: Retrospective chart review.
Setting: Tertiary referral center.
Patients: A total of 105 adult inpatients who underwent VS surgery.
Interventions: Analgesic prescription patterns were evaluated, and factors associated with opioid prescriptions were identified.
Main outcome measure: Number of prescribed analgesics.
Results: Metamizole (=dipyrone) and acetaminophen (=paracetamol) were the most frequently prescribed non-opioid drugs. Sixty-three (60%) patients received an opioid with a median intake of 23.2 ± 24 mg of oral morphine equivalents. Only 10 (9.5%) individuals received opioids for longer than postoperative day 1. Subjects with small tumors undergoing middle cranial fossa tumor removal (p = 0.007) were more likely to receive opioid drugs. In contrast, patients undergoing retrosigmoid craniotomy required fewer opioids for pain control (p = 0.004). Furthermore, individuals receiving opioids were prone to obtain higher dosages of acetaminophen (odds ratio 1.054, 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.10, p = 0.022).
Conclusions: Opioids for acute postoperative analgesia after VS surgery may be necessary in many patients. However, middle- and long-term pain control can be accomplished using non-opioid treatment regimens, resulting in a reduction in opioid prescriptions and the accompanying negative effects on individual and public health.
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