A new study published in Spine examines predictors of long term opioid use among patients who undergo lumbar spinal surgery.
The study examined 8,377 patients who underwent lumbar spinal fusions from January 2009 to December 2012 logged in a national insurance company's database. The study authors reported duration of opioid use before surgery was a predictor of long term opioid use:
● One to 22 days of opioid use: 2.27 odds ratio
● 23 to 72 days of opioid use: 5.94 odds ratio
● 73 to 250 days of opioid use: 25.31 odds ratio
● More than 250 days of opioid use: 219.95 odds ratio
Patients with diagnosed depression had a 1.43 odds ratio of long-term opioid use while patients who underwent re-fusion surgery had a 1.32 odds ratio of long-term opioid use.
Anterior fusion patients had a moderately lower risk of long-term opioid use, at 0.79 odds ratio.