Retrospective Cohort Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Aug 18, 2022; 13(8): 703-713
Published online Aug 18, 2022. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v13.i8.703
Fluctuation of visual analog scale pain scores and opioid consumption before and after total hip arthroplasty
Vivek Singh, Alex Tang, Thomas Bieganowski, Utkarsh Anil, William Macaulay, Ran Schwarzkopf, Roy I Davidovitch
Vivek Singh, Alex Tang, Thomas Bieganowski, Utkarsh Anil, William Macaulay, Ran Schwarzkopf, Roy I Davidovitch, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, New York, NY 10010, United States
Author contributions: Singh V, Tang A, and Bieganowski T write the manuscript; Singh V collected the data; Singh V and Anil U did the analysis; Macaulay W did the edits. Schwarzkopf R and Davidovitch RI are responsible for conceptualization and manuscript editing.
Institutional review board statement: The present study retrospectively analysed de-identified data for institutional quality improvement initiative and was therefore exempted from human-subjects review by our Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was not needed for this study. This was a quality improvement initiative at our institution.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Singh V, Tang A, Bieganowski T and Anil U have nothing to disclose. Macaulay W holds stock options in OrthoAlign. Schwarzkopf R is a paid consultant for Smith & Nephew and Intellijoint. He also has stock options in Gauss Surgical outside the submitted work. Davidovitch RI is a paid consultant for Radlink, Schaerer Medical, Exactech, and Medtronics.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Vivek Singh, MD, Doctor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, 301 E 17th Street, New York, NY 10010, United States. vivek.singh@nyulangone.org
Received: October 1, 2021
Peer-review started: October 1, 2021
First decision: January 11, 2022
Revised: January 28, 2022
Accepted: July 22, 2022
Article in press: July 22, 2022
Published online: August 18, 2022
Processing time: 319 Days and 10.4 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between the quantity of opioid consumption in relation to visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores both pre- and postoperatively in patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). The amount of opioids prescribed after orthopaedic procedures vary widely in the literature, and only a few established guidelines exist that have standardized acceptable duration and magnitude of opioid use. Our findings showed that patients ceased to depend on opioids between postoperative days 15-30 compared to their preoperative consumption status, which correlated to a mean VAS pain score of 3.15. This information can be used to set patient expectations and allows surgeons to tailor their prescribing habits based on pain intensity reported by their patients.

Research motivation

The impact of opioids has gained significant clinical and research interest given their potential to prognosticate postoperative outcomes and patient satisfaction. Therefore, gaining a better understanding of the relationship between opioid use and pain is essential given the shifting emphasis placed upon health safety and quality.

Research objectives

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between the quantity of opioid consumption in relation to VAS pain scores both pre- and postoperatively in patients undergoing primary THA. We hypothesize that both opioid consumption and VAS pain scores will decrease for all patients following surgery when compared to their preoperative status.

Research methods

Administer surverys to aassociate VAS pain scores with opioiid pill consumption.

Research results

Our findings showed that patients ceased to depend on opioids between postoperative days 15-30 compared to their preoperative consumption status, which correlated to a mean VAS pain score of 3.15.

Research conclusions

This information can be used to set patient expectations and allows surgeons to tailor their prescribing habits based on pain intensity reported by their patients.

Research perspectives

Future research should aim to consider other patient factors that influence pain severity. Our current understanding of the independent impact of pain on opioid consumption after THA remains inconclusive.