Shifts in Prescribers’ Initial Postoperative Opioid Prescriptions Following Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty Between 2014 and 2018

The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis impacting the practice of surgeons performing primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). Seeking to evaluate changes in prescribers’ practices, we asked the following questions: (1) Have the initial discharge opioids following THA changed and (2) Have initial total oral morphine milligram equivalents (OME) prescribed following THA decreased since 2014?

We retrospectively reviewed discharge prescriptions for 4233 primary THAs performed between fiscal years (FYs) 2014 and 2018 throughout our healthcare system. Drug, dosing, and total OMEs were recorded. We categorized prescriptions into 3 groups: short-acting narcotics only, short-acting plus long-acting narcotics, and short-acting narcotics plus tramadol. Mean age was 59 and 63% were males.

The proportion of patients receiving tramadol increased from 2% (FY14) to 25% (FY18) while long-acting opioid prescriptions decreased from 44% (FY14) to 14% (FY18). Oxycodone (82%) was the most common short-acting narcotic. In total, we observed a 27% decrease in initial OME prescribed to a mean of 683 mg (FY18) ( P < .0001). Short-acting only protocols had a 19% OME decrease to 589 mg (FY18). Short plus long-acting protocols haed a 23% OME decrease to 939 mg (FY18). Short-acting plus tramadol had an OME of 849 mg (FY18).

Despite a 27% observed decrease in initial OME prescription following THA, the 683 mg mean OME in FY18 was high. Substituting tramadol for a long-acting narcotic failed to have a dramatic clinical impact on decreasing OME. These data suggest that decreasing the number of short-acting narcotic pills is a critical factor in decreasing OME.