Preventing Excess Narcotic Prescriptions in New Robotic Surgery Discharges: The PENN Prospective Cohort Quality Improvement Initiative

Abstract

The majority of robotic surgery patients do not require opioids upon discharge. Implementation of a simple, standardized nonopioid protocol resulted in a dramatic reduction in the amount of opioids prescribed in our patient population. An escalation protocol allows for a patient-centered approach to reduce narcotic prescribing, although still addressing surgical pain.