Andrew J. Schoenfeld, MD, and his team included 117,118 patients who “met the criteria for sustained prescription opioid use.”
Here are six takeaways:
1. Of the patients, 800 received an initial opioid prescription after an inpatient visit.
2. Of the 800 individuals, 0.4 percent had an inpatient procedure.
3. “Other ill-defined conditions” represented the most common diagnosis for all patients receiving an initial opioid prescription.
4. The following conditions also ranked among the top 10 diagnoses for patients receiving an initial opioid prescription:
• Thoracic or lumbosacral radiculitis
• Lumbar dengerative disc disease
• Cervicalgia
• Other chronic pain
• Lumbosacral spondylosis
• Displacement of lumbar intervertebral disc
5. In regards to condition categories, researchers found spine and orthopedic disorders yielded the greatest association with initial opioid prescriptions.
6. Researchers concluded “Improved adherence to best practices in opioid prescribing and requirements for better documentation of the rationale for such prescriptions may reduce the risk of sustained use.”
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