From the Journals
Clinical Guidelines
Conference News
Opioid Prescribing Trends After Guidelines
Large US data set tracks postoperative analgesic use over a decade.
A study analyzing data from 25,076 patients who underwent parotidectomy found a significant shift in analgesic prescribing patterns following the release of 2021 clinical guidelines by the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. Opioid prescriptions dropped by 7.44% immediately after the guidelines were published, continuing to decline by 0.20% every three months, while nonopioid prescriptions rose by 3.73% and increased by an additional 0.12% quarterly. This indicates a sustained change in postoperative pain management strategies in response to new guidelines.
