Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Relationship between endothelial cell loss and microcoaxial phacoemulsification parameters in noncomplicated cataract surgery

Mohamed AE Soliman Mahdy1,2, Mohamed Z Eid1, Mahmoud Abdel-Badei Mohammed3, Amr Hafez4,5, Jagdish Bhatia21Ophthalmic Department, Al-Hussein University Hospital, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt; 2Ophthalmic Department, Rustaq Hospital, Rustaq, Sultanate of Oman; 3Research Institute of Ophthalmology, Cairo, Egypt; 4Magrabi Eye and Ear Center, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman; 5Ophthalmic Department, Al-Azhar University Hospital, Assuit, EgyptPurpose: To assess the relationship between postoperative endothelial cell loss and microcoaxial phaco parameters using Ozil IP (Alcon Laboratories, Inc, Fort Worth, TX) in noncomplicated cataract surgery.Methods: In this prospective observational study, 120 consecutive cases of cataract patients with different grades of nuclear hardness underwent microcoaxial phacoemulsification through a 2.2-mm clear corneal incision. An Alcon Infinity Vision System with Ozil IP (Alcon Laboratories) was used with an Ozil torsional handpiece and a Kelman-style 45° phacoemulsification tip. Patients underwent preoperative and postoperative central endothelial cell counts.Results: The study included 120 cases of age-related cataract whose mean age (standard deviation [SD]) was 59.68 years (9.47). There was a highly statistically significant endothelial cell loss (P < 0.001). The endothelial cell loss ranged 11–1149 cells/mm2 with a median (interquartile range) of 386 cells/mm2 (184.5–686 cells/mm2). The percentage of postoperative ECLoss% ranged from 0.48% to 47.8% with a median (interquartile range) of 15.4% (7.2% to 26.8%). A significant positive correlation was found between the ECLoss% and different phaco parameters. The Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient values, rho, (ρ) were as follows: CDE (ρ = 0.425), aspiration time (ρ = 0.176), and volume (ρ = 0.278). Also, ECLoss% was significantly correlated with the grade of nuclear opalescence (Kendall’s tau τ = 0.42).Conclusion: Microcoaxial phacoemulsification was efficient in removing noncomplicated cataracts; however a statistically significant endothelial cell loss was noted, especially with increased nuclear hardness. This endothelial cell loss was mostly related to the increased cumulative dissipated energy (CDE), aspiration time, and volume of balanced salt solution used.Keywords: cataract surgery, phacoemulsification, Ozil, endothelial cells, cumulative dissipated energy&nbsp