Impact of mandated drug monitoring on opioid use during highly conformal radiotherapy for oropharynx cancer.

Background: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have proliferated due to increasing opioid-related deaths. We evaluated acute opioid use changes for 64 patients treated with highly conformal radiotherapy (RT) following a state-mandated PDMP.

Methods: Patients receiving proton therapy (PT) (n=40), intensity-modulated RT (IMRT) (n=14), or both (n=10) were divided into preintervention (n=26) and postintervention cohorts (n=38); records were reviewed retrospectively under an institutional review board (IRB)-approved tracking protocol. Dosages prescribed during acute therapy (during RT-3 months post-RT) and patient-reported pain (Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale) were endpoints. Dosages were treated as responses in Chi-square tests (three-level ordinal response).

Results: Overall, 72% (n=46) received opioids; of which 22% (n=10) of all patients and 10% (n=2) of opioid-naive patients continued analgesic management 3 months post-RT. Median total doses were 975 and 1,025 morphine milligram equivalents (MME) in pre- and postintervention groups, with no significant differences in MME prescribed (P=0.8) or uncontrolled pain (P=0.3). Statistically significant factors were tonsil primaries (P<0.01) and alcohol use (P=0.02). Uncontrolled pain episodes during and post-RT did not vary per cohort (P=0.19).

Conclusions: PDMP use was not associated with management changes in patient-reported acute pain during RT (IMRT or PT). Following highly conformal RT, few patients remained on narcotics 3 months post-RT.