Impact of Opioid Restriction Legislation on Prescribing Practices for Outpatient Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Background: Overprescription of opioids for acute postoperative pain, plastic surgery procedures included, is contributing to the pervasive opioid epidemic in the United States. This study examines the effect of a statewide legislation limiting postoperative opioids on opioid prescription behavior among providers following outpatient plastic surgery procedures at a high-volume academic center.

Methods: Retrospective review of all outpatient surgical encounters between June 1, 2016, and November 30, 2018, was performed. Encounters were grouped into two cohorts: prepolicy and postpolicy. Primary outcomes included total oral morphine equivalents prescribed on the day of surgery and proportion of patients prescribed greater than 210 oral morphine equivalents. Secondary outcomes included proportion of patients requiring an opioid refill within 30 days following surgery, and number of refills required.

Results: The mean oral morphine equivalents prescribed on the day of surgery was reduced from 271.8 to 150.37 oral morphine equivalents ( p < 0.001) following implementation of the legislation, with an associated decrease in the standard deviation of oral morphine equivalents prescribed from 225.35 to 196.71 ( p < 0.001), suggesting a decrease in the variability of prescriber practices. Time series analysis demonstrated the decrease in oral morphine equivalents remained significant when accounting for baseline level of change in opioid prescription patterns.

Conclusion: This study provides evidence that legislation at the state level restricting postoperative opioid prescriptions is associated with a decrease in opioid prescriptions without an increase in the need for refills in the acute postoperative setting following outpatient plastic surgery procedures.