Video: This Medical News Minute reviews the incidence of and risk factors for post-operative chronic opioid use among opioid-naive patients.
In this Medical News Minute, developed exclusively for Consultantlive.com, Dr. Bobby Lazzara highlights results of a timely retrospective analysis that explored the incidence of and risk factors for chronic opioid use in the postoperative period among opioid-naïve patients.
All 11 of the surgeries analyzed (eg, total knee arthroplasty, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, cesarean delivery) were associated with an increased risk. For example, for knee replacement, increase in risk was 5-fold; for open cholecystectomy 4-fold; total hip replacement and simple mastectomy 3-fold. Male sex, age >50 years, and depression were among the many characteristics associated with chronic opioid use (filling at least 120 days of opioid prescriptions within the first year of surgery). Results were published in JAMA Internal Medicine, July 11, 2016.