Evidence-Based Opioid Education That Reduces Prescribing: The 10 Principles of Opioid Prescribing in Foot and Ankle Surgery

Over half of opioid misusers last obtained access to opioids via a friend or relative, a problematic reflection of the opioid reservoir phenomenon, which results from an unused backlog of excess prescription opioids that are typically stored in the American home. We aim to determine if a voluntary educational intervention containing standard opioid and nonopioid analgesic prescribing ranges for common surgeries is effective in altering postoperative prescribing practice. We utilized a mixed methods approach and sent out a questionnaire to American podiatric physicians, including residents (baseline group A), via email in early 2020 for baseline data; then, we interviewed foot and ankle surgeons and the primary themes of these semistructured interviews informed us to target residents for an educational intervention. We repeated the survey 3 years later in summer 2022 (preintervention group B). We created an opioid guide and emailed it to residents in fall 2022. Another repeat survey was done in spring 2023 (postintervention group C). We used the Mann-Whitney U test to examine differences between the groups among their reported postoperative opioid quantities for a first metatarsal osteotomy surgical scenario. Groups A, B, and C had 60, 100, and 99 residents, respectively. There was no significant difference (p = .9873) between baseline group A and preintervention group B. There was a difference (p < .0001; -5 median) between preintervention group B and postintervention group C (same residency year). In postintervention group C, a majority (91/99) reported viewing the guide at least once, and the number of residents that reported supplementing with NSAIDs also doubled compared to preintervention group B. This novel opioid educational intervention resulted in meaningful change in self-reported postoperative prescribing behavior among residents.