A small number of surgical procedures, including orthopedic surgeries and cesarean deliveries, account for a significant proportion of opioid prescriptions dispensed after surgery, according to a study published on June 26 in JAMA Network Open.

Dominic Alessio-Bilowus, from Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, along with colleagues, conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the 2020 to 2021 Merative MarketScan Commercial and Multi-State Databases. They examined the surgical procedures that accounted for the highest proportion of opioids dispensed to adults in the United States following surgery. The data encompassed 1,040,934 surgical procedures, with 43.9 percent performed on individuals aged 18 to 44 and 56.1 percent on those aged 45 to 64.

The study found that opioid prescriptions were dispensed for 48.3 percent of these procedures. Among individuals aged 18 to 44, cesarean delivery accounted for the highest proportion of total morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) dispensed post-surgery, representing 19.4 percent. For individuals aged 45 to 64, four of the top five procedures were common orthopedic surgeries, such as knee arthroplasty (9.7 percent) and knee arthroscopy (6.5 percent).

"Going forward, targeted opioid stewardship initiatives focused on these procedures may provide the greatest value in optimizing postoperative opioid prescribing," the authors noted.

It is worth mentioning that one of the authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.