Findings seen for orthopedic surgery patients provided an opioid disposal kit at discharge<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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FRIDAY, Jan. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Providing surgery patients with an opioid disposal kit at the time of discharge increases their self-disposal rates, according to a short report published online Jan. 1 in BMJ Open Quality<\/em>.<\/p>\n Eric Shan, from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues assessed the impact of opioid disposal kits on disposal rates after orthopedic surgery. The analysis included 1,321 eligible patients; comparisons were made for patients undergoing hip or knee arthroplasty from May to July 2022 versus July to September 2022 (when opioid disposal kits were provided at discharge).<\/p>\n The researchers found that disposal kits were associated with a 10.6 percentage point increase in disposal rates (20.8 to 28.4 percent) and a 10.5 percentage point increase in the fraction of opioids disposed (16.1 to 20.2 percent). The disposal kits were also found to be cost-effective, as each kit was valued at under $2.00.<\/p>\n “Any time we can cut down the number of opioids that could potentially circulate or be misused, it’s a positive step,” co-corresponding author Anish Agarwal, M.D., M.P.H., of the Center for Insights to Outcomes at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, said in a statement. “If you can make the right decision the easy one, you’re much more likely to get a positive outcome, and I think that’s what we saw here.”<\/p>\n