The aim of this study was to assess medication usage and to determine differences in selected outcomes in patients who received either parenteral
ketorolac tromethamine or
narcotics after surgery. A retrospective case-control study was used in patients on a surgery service who were postoperative. Forty patients who received parenteral
ketorolac tromethamine as their primary
postoperative pain medication were matched by
surgical procedure, age, and sex to 40 patients who did not receive parenteral or oral
ketorolac tromethamine. Patient data were collected by chart review, and fiscal information was obtained through hospital computer data bases. Simple t-tests were used to examine between-group differences in outcomes measured by interval scales, and contingency table analyses using the chi-square statistic were used to examine differences in dichotomous and ordinal scale outcomes. Parenteral
ketorolac was prescribed in accordance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved guidelines 55% of the time, but actual patient use was in accordance with FDA guidelines 75% of the time. There were no differences between groups in any measure of
analgesia prescription. Significant findings between patients receiving
ketorolac tromethamine versus controls included a longer length of
hospital stay (14.6 +/- 13.0 v 9.2 +/- 8.3 days), higher pharmacy cost ($69. 57 +/- $87.00 v $5.20 +/- $6.10), and higher use of histamine-2 antagonists (59.0% v 35.0%). Subgroup analysis showed that patients with a principle gastrointestinal diagnosis had the greatest differences in
length of stay. Prospective studies are needed to assess patient outcomes when parenteral
ketorolac tromethamine is prescribed for
postoperative pain.