Commentary: Impact of Opioid Prescribing Guidelines on Postoperative Opioid Prescriptions Following Elective Spine Surgery: Results From an Institutional Quality Improvement Initiative

The authors present a very timely and interesting paper on opioids and spine surgery.1 The authors report that with guidelines implemented in the spine clinic, patients are able to reduce their opioid consumption. Not only is this important from a medical perspective but also important from a societal standpoint. I congratulate the authors for addressing this matter with an intervention that is systematic, relatively straightforward, and apparently effective. In the United States, opioid consumption has reached disproportionate levels relative to our population, with estimates that we consume 80% of the world's supply of opioids despite us constituting only approximately 4% of the world's population.2 The medical profession, as the stewards of legal opioids, should logically take charge in the matter. Because...