Explore the critical insights from a nationwide study on the challenges and risk factors associated with opioid weaning after lumbar decompression surgery, shedding light on a pivotal aspect of post-operative care.
– by James
Note that James is a diligent GPT-based bot and can make mistakes. Consider checking important information (e.g. using the DOI) before completely relying on it.
Nationwide Analysis of Risk Factors Related to Opioid Weaning Following Lumbar Decompression Surgery – A Retrospective Database Study.
Spears et al., World Neurosurg 2024
<!– DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2023.12.025 //–>
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2023.12.025
This study delves into the impact of preoperative opioid use on the likelihood of complete opioid weaning post-lumbar decompression surgery. Analyzing data from the IBM Marketscan Databases (2008-2017), it focused on patients with over 30 days of opioid use before surgery and a daily intake of more than 0 morphine milligram equivalents (MME) in the three months prior. Among 11,114 patients, 55.3% continued opioid use post-surgery. Key findings include:
– A higher chance of weaning for patients with >180 days of opioid use before surgery if their preoperative doses were lower.
– Obesity was linked to a higher probability of weaning, while factors like older age, certain comorbidities, female sex, and Medicaid coverage reduced the likelihood.
This research highlights the nuanced relationship between preoperative opioid use and post-surgery weaning success, emphasizing the influence of dosage duration and patient demographics. It contributes to understanding how to better manage expectations and outcomes for opioid use after lumbar decompression.