Multimodal pain management and postoperative outcomes in inpatient and outpatient shoulder arthroplasties: a population-based study

Abstract

IntroductionMultimodal analgesia has been associated with reduced opioid utilization, opioid-related complications, and improved recovery in various orthopedic surgeries; however, large sample size data is lacking for shoulder surgery.MethodsA retrospective review using the Premier Healthcare Database of patients who underwent inpatient or outpatient (reverse, total, partial) shoulder arthroplasty from 2010 to 2019. Opioid-only analgesia was compared with multimodal analgesia, categorized into 1, 2, or >2 additional analgesic modes, with/without a nerve block. Multivariable regression models measured associations between multimodal analgesia and opioid charges (in oral morphine equivalents (OME)), cost and length of stay, and opioid-related adverse effects (approximated by naloxone use). We report % change and 95% CIs.ResultsAmong 176 225 procedures, 169 679 (75.7% multimodal analgesia use) and 6546 (37.8% multimodal analgesia use) were inpatient and outpatient shoulder arthroplasties, respectively. Among inpatients, multimodal analgesia (>2 modes) without a nerve block (vs opioid-only analgesia) was associated with adjusted reductions in OMEs on postoperative day 1: −19.4% (95% CI −21.2% to −17.6%/representing unadjusted median OME reductions from 45 to 30 mg). For total hospitalization, this was −6.0% (95% CI −7.2% to −4.9%/representing unadjusted median OME reductions from 173 to 135 mg). Conversely, for outpatients, this was +13.7% change in OMEs (95% CI +4.4% to +23.0%/representing unadjusted median OME increases from 110 to 131 mg). In both settings, addition of a nerve block to multimodal analgesia attenuated effects in terms of opioid charges.ConclusionsMultimodal analgesia is associated with reductions in opioid charges—specifically inpatient setting—but not various other outcomes.