The Annals of pharmacotherapy
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Observational Study
Evaluation of Acute Postoperative Pain Management During an Injectable Opioid Shortage.
Drug product shortages, including injectable opioids, are common and have the potential to adversely affect patient care. ⋯ In hospitalized, postoperative adults, an injectable opioid shortage was associated with significant decreases in IV opioid use and severe pain scores but no significant differences in nonopioid analgesic use, safety outcomes, or opioid equivalent doses. These results may assist clinicians in developing strategies for injectable opioid shortages and generating hypotheses for future studies.