A new report published in JAMA Surgery found that new, persistent opioid use among surgical patients is more common than previously reported, and is one of the most common complications after elective surgery.
The investigators used nationwide insurance claims data from 2013 to 2014 to identify U.S. adults (aged 18 to 64 years) who did not use opioids in the year prior to surgery. For patients filling a perioperative opioid prescription, the researchers calculated the incidence of persistent opioid use for more than 90 days among patients who had not used opioids previously, after both minor and major surgical procedures, and assessed data for patient-level predictors of persistent opioid use.
Approximately 6% of post-surgical patients in the study used opioids for more than three months following surgery.
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