Prolonged need for opioids after surgery unlikely to develop without prior exposure to controlled substances

BOSTON — Results presented at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting showed patients undergoing upper extremity surgery were unlikely to develop a prolonged need for opioid medication if they were not exposed to controlled substances prior to surgery.

To document all prescriptions of controlled substances filled 6 months before and after upper extremity surgery, Bryan Hozack, MD, and colleagues used the Pennsylvania Prescription Drug Monitoring Program website and then grouped patients into exposed or not-exposed cohorts based on their prescription exposure 6 months prior to surgery.

Among 290 consecutive patients who underwent upper extremity surgery in an outpatient surgical center, Hozack noted opioid-exposed patients filled 3.3-times more opioid scripts; 6.9-times more benzodiazepine scripts; and 6.3-times more sedative scripts compared with opioid-naïve patients.

“When looking at patients with and without preoperative exposure to benzodiazepines, the exposed patients filled 2.9-times more opioid scripts and 4.6-times more sedative scripts,” Hozack said.

Similarly, 3.4-times more opioid scripts and 7.8-times more benzodiazepine scripts were filled by patients with preoperative exposure to sedatives, he noted.

“There was no change in use status of controlled substances in the postop period compared to the preop period, meaning patients unexposed to opioids remained so in the follow-up period,” Hozack said. – by Casey Tingle

Reference:

Hozack B, et al. Paper 8. Presented at: American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting; Sept. 13-15, 2018; Boston.

Disclosure: Hozack reports no relevant financial disclosures.