Opioid use is common among patients undergoing surgery; it is important that surgeons identify these patients and arrange an effective acute pain management plan for them, research at the University of Michigan Health System finds. In the study, nearly one in four patients undergoing surgery at an academic medical center reported preoperative opioid use in a study of about 34,000 patients who underwent surgery from 2010-2016. Age, tobacco use, illicit drug use, higher pain severity, depression, lower life satisfaction and more coexisting medical conditions were associated with preoperative opioid use by patients before surgery. Identifying patients undergoing surgery who use opioids could help establish safe and effective pain management plans for this complicated patient population.
‘Surgeons need to identify patients using opioids preoperatively in order to establish a safe and effective acute pain management plan for them.’
Tweet it Now
The authors of the study are Paul E. Hilliard, M.D., University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, and coauthors.
Source-Eurekalert