Health economics data for Ofirmev (acetaminophen) injection and reduced opioid use for the treatment of acute surgical pain.-Mallinckrodt

Mallinckrodt plc announced the results from a retrospective analysis of health economic data on the use of Ofirmev (acetaminophen) injection and reduced opioid use for the treatment of acute surgical pain. The results were presented as a moderated ePoster at the 41st Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting on Thursday, March 31, in New Orleans. The analysis, titled "Estimating the Effect of Intravenous Acetaminophen (IV-APAP) on Length of Stay and Inpatient Costs," evaluated data from The Advisory Board Company's database of more than 2.2 million anonymous adult inpatient surgical admissions across 297 U.S. hospitals from 2012 to 2014. This non-comparative, retrospective analysis modeled length of stay as well as potential opioid-related complications and related costs, based on an annual impact for a "medium-sized" hospital, among surgical patients where there was both a one-level reduction in opioid use (high to medium, medium to low, or low to none) and the use of IV acetaminophen therapy to help manage acute surgical pain. This included patients undergoing cardiovascular, colorectal, general, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedics and spine surgeries.

Key findings associated with incorporating Ofirmev and reducing the use of opioids across these surgical patients were:1.An average 18% reduction in length of stay for the modeled scenario with an estimated annual cost savings of $4.5 million; 2.An average reduction in modeled complication rates of 28.5% with an estimated annual cost-savings of $200,000; and 3.In aggregate, an estimated annual $4.7 million in lowered costs, per a medium-sized hospital.

This analysis may provide important insight for surgeons, pharmacists and hospital administrators looking for possible ways to help improve patient outcomes and provide savings to the hospital system. The use of opioids alone has been a mainstay for acute pain management. There is an overreliance on opioids as monotherapy to treat acute pain in U.S. hospitals today and 7 out of 10 hospital patients treated with intravenous (IV) analgesia receive IV opioids alone.