Eliminating Opiate Prescribing for Children after Non-Perforated Appendectomy.

BACKGROUND: Opiates are the traditional treatment for postoperative pain. Recognition that increased availability of opiates in the community is associated with increased addiction has led to efforts to decrease postoperative opiate distribution. However, there are concerns that without opiates, pain relief might be inadequate. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed opiate prescriptions to children who had undergone appendectomy during 3 time periods: before intervention (July 2012 through February 2013), after opiate prescriptions were standardized and reduced (December 2016 through December 2017), and after opiate prescriptions were eliminated (January 2018 through December 2018). We determined how many opiate prescriptions had been written and how many had been filled in each time period. Patients were contacted by phone to identify their medication use and quality of pain management. RESULTS: Pre-intervention, 75 children underwent appendectomy, and all received opiate prescriptions, with a mean of 15 doses of oxycodone prescribed per patient. After reduction, 208 children underwent appendectomy and 30% received opiate prescriptions, for a mean of 1.5 doses of oxycodone per patient. After elimination, 270 patients underwent appendectomy and 3 patients (1.1%) received opiate prescriptions, for a mean of 0.05 doses of oxycodone per patient. Patients contacted by phone expressed no pain relief issues and no patients needed opiates later. CONCLUSIONS: Using a stepwise process, we have eliminated the use of opiates for postdischarge pain in children undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy. This intervention has resulted in the elimination of 4,035 doses of oxycodone from the community during the study period, while ensuring that postoperative pain control has been adequate.

Is a Chest Radiograph Required After Removal of Chest Tubes in Children?

Our objective was to determine the clinical value of obtaining a chest radiograph after removal of a chest tube. We conducted a retrospective chart review of pediatric general surgical patients with a chest tube in place after a thoracic procedure over a 3-year time period. Postremoval films were considered to be of value if they led to a change in clinical management. Of 468 patients who had a thoracic procedure, 281 patients had a chest tube and a postremoval film. In 263 patients (93.6%) there was no change in the postremoval film result compared with baseline. Only two patients (0.7%) required an intervention based on symptoms, not based on the postremoval film. Eliminating routine postremoval radiographs after chest tube removal in pediatric patients will lessen radiation exposure and provide cost savings with no adverse impact on outcome.

Development of the 24/7 Nurse Practitioner Model on the Inpatient Pediatric General Surgery Service at a Large Tertiary Care Children's Hospital and Associated Outcomes.

Nurse practitioners (NPs) have been providing high-quality and safe patient care for a few decades, and evidence showing the extent of their impact is emerging. This article describes the implementation of a 24/7 NP patient care model on an inpatient pediatric general surgery service in a tertiary free-standing Children's Hospital in the Northeastern United States. The literature shows that there is limited evidence regarding NP models of care and their effect on patient outcomes. In response to policy changes leading to reduction of resident work hours and a more acute and complex inpatient pediatric general surgery patient population, our existing NP model evolved into a 24/7 NP Model in June 2011. The results from two quality improvement projects showed positive registered nurse and attending surgeon staff satisfaction with the 24/7 NP Model of care and a decreased trend of unplanned intensive care unit patient transfers after the 24/7 NP Model implementation. These findings further support the evidence in the literature that NPs provide safe and quality patient care.