Data in Brief of: Liberal vs. Restricted Opioid Prescribing Following Midurethral Sling

The objective was to evaluate pain control, satisfaction with pain control, and opioid utilization among patients undergoing isolated mid-urethral sling (MUS) randomized to one of two different opioid prescribing regimens. The primary outcome was average postoperative day 1 pain score and an a priori determined margin of non-inferiority was set at 2 points. 82 participants underwent isolated MUS placement and met inclusion criteria; 40 were randomized to the standard arm and 42 to the restricted group. With respect to the primary outcome of average post-operative day 1 pain score, the restricted arm (mean pain score 3.9±2.4) was non-inferior to the standard arm (mean pain score 3.7±2.7) [difference in means 0.23; 95% CI (-∞, 1.34)]. In the standard arm, 23 participants (57.5%) filled an opioid prescription compared to 8 participants (19.0%) in the restricted arm (p<0.001). 18 out of 82 participants (22.0%) utilized opioids in the 7 day post-operative period, with 10 standard (25.0%) and 8 restricted (19.0%) participants using opioids (p=0.52). Of participants using opioids, the average number of tablets used was 3.4±2.3 and only 3 participants using 5 tablets or more. On a scale of 1=”prescribed far more opioid than needed” to 5=”prescribed far less opioid than needed”, the standard arm mean was 1.9±1.0 compared to a mean of 2.7±1.0 for the restricted arm (p<0.001). Restricted opioid prescription is non-inferior to standard opioid prescription in the setting of pain control and satisfaction with pain control after isolated mid-urethral placement. Participants in the restricted arm filled fewer opioid prescriptions. On average only 3.4 tablets were used by those that filled prescriptions in both groups. Restrictive opioid prescribing practices may reduce unused opioids in the community, while achieving similar pain control.