Mail-Back Envelopes for Retrieval of Opioids After Pediatric Surgery

Abstract

Background: Opioid overprescription has the potential to lead to harmful medications remaining in homes and to a rise in accidental or deliberate ingestion by children and adolescents. Although methods for opioid disposal are available, many are costly or require greater than minimal effort for the patient. In this study, we used a mail-back return envelope to retrieve unused opioids after ambulatory pediatric surgery.

Methods: This feasibility study was performed to assess the rate of opioid return by using a mail-back envelope for children ages 0 to 18 prescribed opioids after outpatient surgery. Participants were provided a return envelope as well as instruction on the dangers of opioids in the home. Our primary outcome was to assess the absolute percent return rate through the use of a mail-back envelope.

Results: Between November 2017 and October 2018, we identified 355 patients, of whom 331 were included in the analysis. In total, 64 (19.3%) returned opioids. In total, >2000 mL of liquid opioids and >250 tablets or nearly 3000 mg of oral morphine equivalents were removed from the homes of the 64 participants. Of those patients returning unused medications, the median rate of return was 58% (interquartile range = 34.7%-86.1%) of the written prescription.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that providing a free mail-back return envelope is a suitable way to remove unused opioids from the home after pediatric surgery. Additional research is needed to identify barriers to return of unused medications.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03352479.

Conflict of interest statement

POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Copyright © 2020 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Figures

FIGURE 1

Flow diagram for patient enrollment.