Evaluation of Opioid Prescribing Guidelines on Opioid Prescription Trends for Parotidectomy

Objective To evaluate the trends in opioid and non‐opioid prescribing for parotidectomy in relation to the publication of opioid prescribing guidelines by the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO‐HNS) in April 2021. Study Design Retrospective. Setting Eighty healthcare organizations in the United States. Methods The TriNetX database was used to obtain deidentified patient data from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2023. Patients who received a prescription for either opioid or non‐opioid analgesics within 1 to 5 days after parotidectomy were included. Prescription trends were analyzed using interrupted time series analysis in Statistical Analysis System (SAS) 9.4, with significance defined as P < .05, to assess changes in relation to the implementation of the AAO‐HNS guidelines. Results Opioid prescribing had an immediate significant decrease by 7.44% ( P < .0001). The trend was sustained and continued to significantly decrease by 0.20% every 3 months ( P = .001). Non‐opioid prescribing in the initial period following the guideline publication increased significantly by 3.73% ( P < .0001). The trend continued to significantly increase by 0.12% every 3 months ( P < .0001). Conclusion An immediate reduction in opioid prescribing was identified for parotidectomy, and this change was sustained. Conversely, non‐opioid prescribing had an associated immediate increase initially following the guideline publication, and this was also sustained.