Conference Coverage

Suzetrigine Prescribing Varies Across New York Orthopedic Services

Edited by:
Brian McCurdy

Key Highlights

  • Researchers identified 986 unique cases with outpatient suzetrigine prescriptions.
  • Adult reconstruction and joint replacement, together with pain management, accounted for well over half of cases.
  • Analyses of patient demographics, procedure types, and service-specific prescribing behavior remain ongoing.

An institutional analysis of outpatient suzetrigine prescribing at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York found that prescribing was concentrated in adult reconstruction and joint replacement and pain management services, with results scheduled for presentation at the ANESTHESIOLOGY Annual Meeting 2026. Researchers identified 986 unique cases during the first year following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, with prescribing patterns varying across surgical and interventional services.

The study examined early use of suzetrigine, a selective Nav1.8 inhibitor described in the abstract as a nonopioid analgesic option for moderate to severe pain. After Institutional Review Board approval, investigators queried the hospital’s Epic electronic health record to identify patients who underwent surgery or an interventional procedure and received an outpatient suzetrigine prescription within the first year after approval. They used Epic SlicerDicer to summarize case counts and prescribing trends, aggregating data at the encounter and service-line levels.

Study Findings

Adult Reconstruction & Joint Replacement and Pain Management together accounted for well over half of the 986 cases. Spine, Sports Medicine, and Foot & Ankle services showed moderate uptake, whereas Trauma, Plastics, and Hip Preservation had minimal prescribing activity. Overall, outpatient prescribing was concentrated in high-volume orthopedic and pain-focused services, with limited use across smaller subspecialties.

Prescribers included clinicians both within and outside HSS. The initial descriptive analyses also identified changes in patient counts over time, although the abstract did not provide numerical trends or exact counts for individual services. Additional analyses are ongoing to characterize patient demographics, procedure types, and prescribing behavior within each service.

Clinical Implications

According to the study authors, the findings provide a foundation for future studies evaluating analgesic outcomes, prescribing appropriateness, and suzetrigine’s role in postoperative and procedural pain management. They characterized the early utilization patterns as evolving and service-specific. The analysis described prescribing across several services; it did not report comparative analgesic effectiveness or safety outcomes.

The authors also stated that further analyses could help clarify potential reasons for differences in prescribing uptake, including anticipated postoperative pain, patient demographics, and prescriber familiarity. The abstract proposed these factors for further investigation but did not establish that they explained the observed variation.

Expert Commentary

“These findings provide foundational insight for future studies evaluating analgesic outcomes, prescribing appropriateness, and the real-world role of suzetrigine in postoperative and procedural pain management,” the researchers concluded.

Reference

Rao P, Kirksey M, Maalouf D, et al. First-year institutional analysis of suzetrigine use in orthopedic surgical and pain patients. Abstract presented at: ANESTHESIOLOGY 2026; October 16-20, 2026; San Diego, CA. Abstract A2085.