Implementation of an Enhanced Recovery Protocol (ERP) is associated with an increase in the perioperative use of non-opioid multimodal analgesia for non-ERP patients.

Study Objective: Incorporation of multimodal, non-opioid analgesic medications into patient care pathways has become a common theme of enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs), which have been shown to improve patient outcomes such as complication rates and length of stay. With surgical care episodes, patients also incur a significant risk of persistent postoperative opioid use, whether the surgery is classified as major or minor surgery. One method that has been shown to reduce perioperative opioid administration is a structured non-opioid multimodal analgesic strategy, widely utilized in ERPs. Despite well-defined benefits, the time to translate evidence-based approaches into clinical practice can be prolonged. This study examines the effect of implementation of an Enhanced Recovery Protocol (ERP) on the adoption of intraoperative multimodal analgesia outside of the auspices of an ERP care pathway, describing factors influencing the clinical implementation of non-opioid multimodal analgesia (NOMA) in routine practice.

Design: Retrospective cohort analysis.

Setting: We identified all surgical cases between January 2013 and December 2016 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).

Interventions: None.

Measurements: Using both segmented and logistic regression approaches, we compared non-ERP surgical cases before and after the initial ERP education and implementation in April 2014. Outcomes included provider, patient, and procedural factors associated with utilization of non-opioid multimodal analgesia (NOMA) in the immediate perioperative period.

Main Results: We studied 73,560 non-ERP cases. Cases utilizing any element of NOMA increased from 17.06% to 35.21% (X = 2358, df = 1, p < 0.01) before and after the initial ERP pathway implementation. Patient factors influencing this increased adoption of multimodal analgesia included lower American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Class, younger age, and Caucasian race. Cases with in-room providers who were residents or trainees (as opposed to nurse anesthetists) or providers who had a greater number of prior ERP pathway cases were more likely to use multimodal. Procedure-specific factors favoring multimodal included use of laparoscopy. The gynecologic, neurosurgical, and orthopedic cases were more likely to utilize multimodal analgesics.

Conclusions: From 2013 to 2016, NOMA usage in non-ERP patients increased significantly and in association with departmental education and concomitant implementation of an ERP pathway. Factors associated with increased uptake of multimodal analgesia included the presence of trainees, providers with a higher number of previous ERP pathway cases, patients who were younger, healthier, female, Caucasian race, and having specific types of surgery.