AB215. SOH25AB_046. Prescription practice of immediate post operative analgesia for orthopaedic patients: a retrospective audit

Background: Management of acute post operative pain after surgery remains a challenging endeavour globally till date. Opioids remain as essential medications for acute pain relief specially in post operative period. There has been a considerable increase in the prescription of opioids for pain management in recent years that has led to issues like developing opioid tolerance, dependence and abuse. Numerous strategies have been adapted and guidelines have been formed to help control this developing crisis.

Methods: This was a retrospective audit conducted at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (OLOLH-Drogheda) after approval from hospital, in which data were collected from 30 patients who had undergone orthopaedic surgeries from March 2022 to June 2022. Cancer patients were excluded. Patients were followed on fourth post operative day to review their prescription charts. Data collected and studied were age, gender, analgesics used and if nerve blocks were done.

Results: Mean age of patients in OLOLH was 69 years. Multimodal analgesia was being used for pain management. 100% patients received paracetamol, 16.6% received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), 100% received short/intermediate acting opioids, none received long acting/slow release opioids, 6.6% received gabapentin and no nerve blocks were given for post operative pain management.

Conclusions: Patients had good pain control with the multimodal analgesic regime used. Opioid use was in accordance with HSE guidelines. Inconsistent use of NSAIDS was found. Gabapentin was not a part of regular post operative analgesic pain regime. Nerve blocks for post operative pain relief were not employed regularly.

Keywords: Post operative pain; opioids; analgesia; surgery; orthopaedics