How a state's surgeons cut down
on opioids without putting patients
in more pain

In a new research letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, a team from the Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network reports the results of a collaborative effort to help surgical teams follow evidence-based opioid prescribing guidelines developed at the University of Michigan.

In just one year, teams at 43 hospitals across the state reduced the number of opioid pills they prescribed to patients having nine common operations by nearly one-third, from an average of 26 per patient to an average of 18, without causing patients to feel more pain or less satisfied with their surgical experience.

6 in 10 children receive opioids after tonsillectomy, but opioids may not prevent complications

Sixty percent of privately insured children undergoing tonsil removal received opioids -with average prescriptions lasting about six to 10 days ---- a new study in JAMA Otolaryngology from Kao-Ping Chua, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, finds. Having a filled opioid prescription wasn't associated with a difference in risk of return visits for pain or dehydration, the study found, but it was linked to an increased risk of constipation and in at least one case, an opioid overdose.