Clinical economics: Calculating the cost of acute postoperative pain medication

Few data are available that address the cost of postoperative pain manageme nt, although such knowledge would enhance our understanding of caregiver ch oices related to direct medical costs, such as type, frequency, and route o f medication. This article describes the cost of postoperative pain medicat ions before and after an educational program provided to nurses, pharmacist s, and physicians in six community hospitals. Medication costs were calcula ted by averaging across all brands the average wholesale price of the most common dose administered in the sample for each medication. The median cost of postoperative pain medication across all days, all surgeries, was $9.46 . Calculating the cost of acute postoperative pain medication suggested tha t cost over stay is highly influenced by the use of a few expensive medicat ions. The relationship of medication cost to length of stay (LOS), function , and pain intensity is discussed. J Pain Symptom Manage 2000;19:295-308. ( C) U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee, 2000.