Postop painkillers linked to deaths after spinal fusion

A recent study links painkillers to one in five deaths among people who have had lumbar fusion surgery to help relieve lower back pain.

Among this group, middle-aged men with degenerative disc disease (DDD) ran a sevenfold greater risk of either accidental or suicidal analgesic poisoning compared to the other surgical patients, according to a press release.

The findings raised questions among the researchers about the effectiveness of the surgery and the postop medications. Spinal fusion has become more popular in recent years despite being riskier than less-complicated back surgeries aimed at reducing pain, they said in the press release.

The study, published in the April 1 issue of Spine, included nearly 2,400 patients who had spinal fusion surgery between 1994 and 2001.

Of the 103 patients who died in the 3 years following surgery, 21% involved either accidental overdose or suicide involving pain medications. These fatalities tended to be younger surgical patients, while older ones were more likely to die of cancer, heart disease or other causes.

“Analgesic-related deaths are responsible for more deaths and more potential life lost among workers who underwent spinal fusion than any other cause,” lead researcher Sham Maghout Juratli, MD, MPH, of Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, said in the news release.

The researchers said patients with DDD, especially the highest-risk category of 45- to 54-year-old men, should be monitored carefully after surgery and be given extra attention to help reduce risk of mortality.

Reference:
Juratli SM, Mirza SK, Fulton-Kehoe D, et al. Mortality after lumbar fusion surgery. Spine. 34;7:740-747.