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Objective To determine the efficacy of a program to limit the use of the intravenous (IV) push route for opioids on the experience of pain by inpatients and on associated safety events. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Two inpatient general medicine floor units at an urban tertiary care academic medical center. Subjects 4,752 inpatient opioid recipients. Methods Patients in one unit were exposed to a multidisciplinary intervention to limit the prescription of opioids via the IV push route, with the other unit used as a control unit. The primary study outcome was the mean numeric pain score per patient during the hospital stay. Secondary measures included the hospital length of stay and postdischarge patient satisfaction. Fidelity measures included the percentage of the patient population exposed to each opioid administration route and the amount of opioid administered per route. Safety measures included patient disposition, transfer to intensive care, and incidence of naloxone administration. Results The intervention was successful in decreasing both the percentage of patients exposed to IV push opioids and the amount of opioid administered via the IV push route, but no associated changes in other study outcomes were identified. Conclusions For the treatment of acute pain in medical inpatients, no evidence of benefit or harm was identified in relation to an increase or decrease in the use of the IV push opioid route.

Registered soybean insecticides were evaluated for efficacy against soybean looper, velvetbean caterpillar and threecornered alfalfa hopper. Treatments were applied on 24 Aug with a CO2-pressurized backpack sprayer calibrated to deliver 9.9 gal of finished spray/acre through 8001 flat-fan nozzle tips at 40 psi. Row spacing was 38 inches, and plots were 8 rows wide × 50 ft long and were arranged in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. Plots were sampled at 2, 7, and 14 DAT using a 15-inch-diam sweep net. Pretreatment counts taken around the periphery of the plot area revealed an average soybean looper population of 15.7/25 sweeps. No rainfall occurred prior to the 7 DAT sample date.

Registered soybean insecticides were evaluated for efficacy against soybean loopers. Treatments were applied on 18 Sep with a CO2-pressurized backpack sprayer calibrated to deliver 9.4 gal of finished spray/acre through 8001 flat-fan nozzle tips at 40 psi. Row spacing was 38 inches, and plots were 8 rows wide by 40 ft long arranged in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. Plots were sampled at 4 and 7 DAT using a 15-inch-diam sweep net. Pretreatment counts taken around the periphery of the plot area revealed an average soybean looper population of 29.3/25 sweeps. No precipitation fell on the plots prior to the 7 d count.

Six registered soybean insecticides were evaluated against soybean looper. Treatments were applied on 6 Sep using a CO2-pressurized backpack sprayer calibrated to deliver 9.4 gal of finished spray/acre through 8001 flat-fan tips at 40 psi. Row spacing was 30 inches in soybeans planted no-till behind wheat. Plots were 10 rows wide by 45 ft long and were arranged in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. Pretreatment counts averaged 15.75 soybean loopers, 12.25 velvetbean caterpillars and green cloverworms combined, and 1.5 stink bugs/25 sweeps of a 15 inch-diam sweep net. No precipitation fell on the plots prior to the 7 d counts.