One in 10 Patients Experience Adverse Effects from Post-Surgical Opioids

Among patients who received opioids for the first time after undergoing surgery, 9.1% experienced a potential adverse effect from the drug, according to a study published online in the Journal of Patient Safety.

“Opioid analgesics are a mainstay for acute pain management,” researchers wrote, “but postoperative opioid administration has risks.”

Among 13,389 patients who until their surgery had never taken opioids, 91% received postoperative opioids and made up the retrospective study cohort. Among these 12,218 patients, 1111 experienced a potential opioid-related adverse drug event. Every day a patient received intravenous opioids, the odds of an adverse drug event rose 18%, researchers reported.

Adverse drug events were associated with 2.9 times the odds of death, 55% longer postoperative length of stay, 29% higher costs of hospitalization, and 29% lower odds of discharge home, the study found.

Predictors of opioid-related adverse drug events were older age, several markers of disease severity, longer surgeries, and concurrent benzodiazepine use.

“Knowledge of risk factors and predictors of opioid-related adverse drug events can help develop targeted interventions to minimize the development of these potentially dangerous and costly events,” researchers wrote.—Jolynn Tumolo