P54. Multimodal pain control regimen for anterior lumbar fusion drastically reduces in-hospital opioid consumption

• Published in: The spine journal 2020-09, Vol.20 (9), p.S172-S172
• Main Authors: Gum, Jeffrey L., Steele, Portia, Crawford, Charles H., Djurasovic, Mladen, Kirk Owens, R., Brown, Morgan, Daniels, Christy L., Sampedro, Benjamin M., Dimar, John R., Glassman, Steven D., Carreon, Leah Y.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1529-9430; 1878-1632
• DOI: 10.1016/j.spinee.2020.05.452

Recent studies suggest as much as 25% of patients undergoing spine surgery are still on opioids two years later. In response, we developed protocols to minimize opioid consumption following elective spine surgery. Our goal was to evaluate patients undergoing single-level Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusions (ALIF ± posterior fixation) on MMPC compared to patients who were not (nonMMPC). To determine if the combination of an oral preoperative pain cocktail with transverse abdominis plane (TAP) block (multi-modal pain control: MMPC) will reduce length of stay (LOS), ileus, and in-hospital opioid consumption. Retrospective chart review. Consecutive patients undergoing single-level ALIF for degenerative lumbar conditions by a single-surgeon. Length of stay (LOS), incidence of ileus and in-hospital opioid consumption. A retrospective review of a prospective, single-surgeon, surgical database was utilized for consistency in technique. Consecutive patients undergoing single-level ALIF for degenerative lumbar conditions were identified before and after initiation of the MMPC. The MMPC consisted of a preop oral regimen of cyclobenzaprine (10mg), gabapentin (600mg), acetaminophen (1g) and methadone (10mg). Postoperatively they received a bilateral transverse abdominis plane (TAP) block with 0.5% Ropivicaine. Our primary outcome was total, in-hospital opioid consumption (morphine milligram equivalents: MME). There were 68 patients in the MMPC cohort and 39 in the nonMMPC cohort. There was no difference in baseline demographics such as sex, BMI, smoking, or preoperative opioid use between the two groups. The MMPC cohort was older (56.7 vs 51.1 years, p=0.026). Similar rates of ileus (4 vs 6, p=0.102), no difference in LOS (3.8 vs 4.5, p=0.246) and no difference in index hospital costs was found. Although there was no difference in day of surgery MMEs (58.5 vs 68.9, p=0.387), cumulative MMEs each day after surgery was significantly lower in the MMPC cohort, with final cumulative MMEs being reduced by 62% (120.2 vs 314.8, p