Pain management consultation for acute pancreatitis: impact on length of stay and opioid utilization

• Published in: Pain management Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 159 - 166
• Main Authors: Ushe, Tendai, Lakhan, Shaheen E, Locklear, Tonja, Muthukattil, Ronex, Whitehead, Phyllis, Benson, Andrew, Ladak, Asma Akbar, Carter, Kimberly Ferren
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Future Medicine Ltd 01.03.2022
• Subjects: Acute Disease; acute pain; acute pancreatitis; Adult; Analgesics, Opioid - therapeutic use; Humans; Length of Stay; opioids; pain consultation; Pain Management; Pain, Postoperative; Pancreatitis - complications; Pancreatitis - therapy; Referral and Consultation; Retrospective Studies; pain management; acute pain; pain consultation; acute pancreatitis; opioids
• ISSN: 1758-1869; 1758-1877
• DOI: 10.2217/pmt-2021-0012

The purpose of the study was to understand the impact of a pain management consult for acute pancreatitis patients on their inpatient length of stay, morphine milligram equivalences (MMEs) and pancreatitis severity. Adult patient data were extracted from the electronic health records from 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2018. Of 277 patients with a single acute pancreatitis hospitalization, 23 had a pain consultation (treatment group), whereas 254 did not (control group). There were statistically significant differences in median length of stay, median MME total and median MME per day between the treatment and control groups with comparable severity and pain scores (6.8 vs 3.1 days, 196.5 vs 33.8 MMEs, 30.9 vs 12.1 MMEs, respectively, p < 0.0001). This study emphasizes the complexity of pain management and the importance of further research in the field.