TY - JOUR

T1 - Opioid-Sparing Cardiac Anesthesia

T2 - Secondary Analysis of an Enhanced Recovery Program for Cardiac Surgery

AU - Grant, Michael C.

AU - Isada, Tetsuro

AU - Ruzankin, Pavel

AU - Gottschalk, Allan

AU - Whitman, Glenn

AU - Lawton, Jennifer S.

AU - Dodd-O, Jeffrey

AU - Barodka, Viachaslau

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2020 International Anesthesia Research Society.

PY - 2020/12/1

Y1 - 2020/12/1

N2 - BACKGROUND: Cardiac anesthetics rely heavily on opioids, with the standard patient receiving between 70 and 105 morphine sulfate equivalents (MSE; 10-15 µg/kg of fentanyl). A central tenet of Enhanced Recovery Programs (ERP) is the use of multimodal analgesia. This study was performed to assess the association between nonopioid interventions employed as part of an ERP for cardiac surgery and intraoperative opioid administration. METHODS: This study represents a post hoc secondary analysis of data obtained from an institutional ERP for cardiac surgery. Consecutive patients undergoing cardiac surgery received 5 nonopioid interventions, including preoperative gabapentin and acetaminophen, intraoperative dexmedetomidine and ketamine infusions, and regional analgesia via serratus anterior plane block. The primary objective, the association between intraoperative opioid administration and the number of interventions provided, was assessed via a linear mixed-effects regression model. To assess the association between intraoperative opioid administration and postoperative outcomes, patients were stratified into high (>50 MSE) and low (≤50 MSE) opioids, 1:1 propensity matched based on 15 patients and procedure covariables and assessed for associations with postoperative outcomes of interest. To investigate the impact of further opioid restriction, ultralow (≤25 MSE) opioid participants were then identified, 1:3 propensity matched to high opioid patients, and similarly compared. RESULTS: A total of 451 patients were included in the overall analysis. Analysis of the primary objective revealed that intraoperative opioid administration was inversely related to the number of interventions employed (estimated -7.96 MSE per intervention, 95% confidence interval [CI], -9.82 to -6.10, P <.001). No differences were detected between low (n = 136) and high (n = 136) opioid patients in postoperative complications, postoperative pain scores, time to extubation, or length of stay. No differences were found in outcomes between ultralow (n = 63) and high (n = 132) opioid participants. CONCLUSIONS: Nonopioid interventions employed as part of an ERP for cardiac surgery were associated with a reduction of intraoperative opioid administration. Low and ultralow opioid use was not associated with significant differences in postoperative outcomes. These findings are hypothesis-generating, and future prospective studies are necessary to establish the role of opioid-sparing strategies in the setting of cardiac surgery.

AB - BACKGROUND: Cardiac anesthetics rely heavily on opioids, with the standard patient receiving between 70 and 105 morphine sulfate equivalents (MSE; 10-15 µg/kg of fentanyl). A central tenet of Enhanced Recovery Programs (ERP) is the use of multimodal analgesia. This study was performed to assess the association between nonopioid interventions employed as part of an ERP for cardiac surgery and intraoperative opioid administration. METHODS: This study represents a post hoc secondary analysis of data obtained from an institutional ERP for cardiac surgery. Consecutive patients undergoing cardiac surgery received 5 nonopioid interventions, including preoperative gabapentin and acetaminophen, intraoperative dexmedetomidine and ketamine infusions, and regional analgesia via serratus anterior plane block. The primary objective, the association between intraoperative opioid administration and the number of interventions provided, was assessed via a linear mixed-effects regression model. To assess the association between intraoperative opioid administration and postoperative outcomes, patients were stratified into high (>50 MSE) and low (≤50 MSE) opioids, 1:1 propensity matched based on 15 patients and procedure covariables and assessed for associations with postoperative outcomes of interest. To investigate the impact of further opioid restriction, ultralow (≤25 MSE) opioid participants were then identified, 1:3 propensity matched to high opioid patients, and similarly compared. RESULTS: A total of 451 patients were included in the overall analysis. Analysis of the primary objective revealed that intraoperative opioid administration was inversely related to the number of interventions employed (estimated -7.96 MSE per intervention, 95% confidence interval [CI], -9.82 to -6.10, P <.001). No differences were detected between low (n = 136) and high (n = 136) opioid patients in postoperative complications, postoperative pain scores, time to extubation, or length of stay. No differences were found in outcomes between ultralow (n = 63) and high (n = 132) opioid participants. CONCLUSIONS: Nonopioid interventions employed as part of an ERP for cardiac surgery were associated with a reduction of intraoperative opioid administration. Low and ultralow opioid use was not associated with significant differences in postoperative outcomes. These findings are hypothesis-generating, and future prospective studies are necessary to establish the role of opioid-sparing strategies in the setting of cardiac surgery.

KW - INTRAVENOUS ACETAMINOPHEN

KW - POSTOPERATIVE DELIRIUM

KW - DEXMEDETOMIDINE

KW - PAIN

KW - CONSUMPTION

KW - PROPOFOL

KW - MORPHINE

KW - FENTANYL

KW - KETAMINE

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096067253&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1213/ANE.0000000000005152

DO - 10.1213/ANE.0000000000005152

M3 - Article

C2 - 32889848

AN - SCOPUS:85096067253

VL - 131

SP - 1852

EP - 1861

JO - Anesthesia and Analgesia

JF - Anesthesia and Analgesia

SN - 0003-2999

IS - 6

ER -