By Itself, Spine Surgery Not a Risk Factor for Prolonged Opioid Use
The use of prescription painkillers in the US increased four-fold between 1997 and 2010, and postoperative overdoses doubled over a similar time period. In the August 2, 2017 edition of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, Schoenfeld et al. estimated the proportion of nearly 10,000 initially opioid-naïve TRICARE patients who used opioids up to 1 year after discharge for one of four common spinal surgical procedures (discectomy, decompression, lumbar posterolateral arthrodesis, or lumbar interbody arthrodesis).
Eighty-four percent of the patients filled at least 1 opioid prescription upon hospital discharge. At 30 days following discharge, 8% continued opioid use; at 3 months, 1% continued use; and at 6 months, 0.1%. Only 2 patients (0.02%) in this cohort continued prescription opioid use at 1 year following surgery.
In an adjusted analysis, the authors found that an age of 25 to 34 years, lower socioeconomic status, and a diagnosis of depression were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of continuing opioid use. Those patient-related factors notwithstanding, the authors claim that the outcomes in their study “directly contravene the narrative that patients who undergo spine surgery, once started on prescription opioids following surgery, are at high risk of sustained opioid use.”
However, in his commentary on this study, Robert J. Barth, PhD, cautions that the exclusion criteria restricted even this large sample to about 19% of representative spine surgery candidates, making the findings not widely generalizable. Having said that, the commentator adds that the study supports findings of prior research that persistent postoperative opioid use is more related to “addressable patient-level predictors” than postsurgical pain. He also notes that the findings are “supportive of guidelines that call for surgical-discharge prescriptions of opioids to be limited to ≤2 weeks.”
The Opioid Epidemic: Consequences Beyond Addiction
The orthopaedic community worldwide—and especially those of us in the US, the nation most notorious for over-prescribing—has become very cognizant of the epidemic of opioid abuse. Ironically, the current problem was fueled partly by the “fifth vital sign” movement of 10 to 20 years ago, when physicians were encouraged (brow-beaten, in my opinion) to increase the use of opioid medications to “prevent” high pain scores.
Researchers internationally are now pursuing clarification on the appropriate use of these medications. The societal consequences of opioid addiction, which all too often starts with a musculoskeletal injury and/or orthopaedic procedure, have been well documented in the social-science and lay literature. In the May 17, 2017 issue of The Journal, Smith et al. detail an additional consequence to the chronic use of opioid drugs—the negative impact of preoperative opioids on pain outcomes following knee replacement surgery.
Approximately one-quarter of the 156 total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients analyzed had had at least one preoperative opioid prescription. Patients who used opioids prior to TKA obtained less pain relief from the operation than those who had not used pre-TKA opioids. The authors also found that pain catastrophizing was the only factor measured that was independently associated with pre-TKA opioid use.
To be sure, we need to disseminate this information to the primary care community so they will be more judicious about prescribing these medications for knee arthritis. Additionally, knee surgeons should consider working with primary care providers to wean their TKA-eligible patients off these medications, with the understanding that chronic use preoperatively compromises postsurgical pain relief and functional outcomes.
We have previously published in The Journal the fact that the use of opioids is largely a cultural expectation that varies by country; physicians outside the US often achieve excellent postoperative pain management success without the use of these medications. My bottom line: We must continue to press forward to limit the use of opioid medications in both pre- and postoperative settings.
Marc Swiontkowski, MD
JBJS Editor-in-Chief
Long-Term Opioid Use Before TKA Raises Risk of Revision
Given the prevalence of opioid prescriptions, many patients present for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) having been on long-term opioid therapy. In the January 4, 2017 edition of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, Ben-Ari et al. determined that patients taking opiate medications for more than three months prior to their TKA were significantly more likely than non-users of opioids to undergo revision surgery within a year after the index procedure.
Among the more than 32,000 TKA patients from Veterans Affairs (VA) databases included in the study, nearly 40% were long-term opioid users prior to surgery. Despite that high percentage, the authors found that chronic kidney disease was the leading risk factor for knee revision among the relevant variables they examined. And even though the authors used a sophisticated natural language/machine-learning tool to analyze postoperative notes, they found no association between long-term opioid use and the etiology of the revisions.
In a commentary accompanying the study, Michael Reich, MD and Richard Walker, MD, note that the study’s very specific VA demographic (94% male) may hamper the generalizability of the findings, especially because most TKAs are currently performed in women. Nevertheless, the commentators conclude that:
- “The study illuminates the value in limiting opioid use during the nonoperative treatment of patients with knee arthritis.”
- “Patients who are taking opioids when they present for TKA could reasonably be encouraged to decrease opioid use during preoperative preparation.”
- “Preoperative use of opioids should be considered among modifiable risk factors and comorbidities when deciding whether to perform TKA.”
What’s New in Orthopaedic Rehabilitation
Every month, JBJS publishes a Specialty Update—a review of the most pertinent and impactful studies published in the orthopaedic literature during the previous year in 13 subspecialties. Click here for a collection of all OrthoBuzz Specialty Update summaries.
This month, Nitin Jain, MD, MSPH, a co-author of the November 16, 2016 Specialty Update on Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, selected the five most clinically compelling findings from among the more than 40 studies summarized in the Specialty Update.
Back Pain
–A prospective cohort study1 evaluating the benefit of early imaging (within 6 weeks of index visit) for patients ≥65 years old with new-onset back pain found that those with early imaging had significantly higher resource utilization and expenditures compared with matched controls who did not undergo early imaging. One year after the index visit, authors found no significant between-group differences in patient-reported pain or disability. They concluded that “early imaging should not be performed routinely for older adults with acute back pain.”
–A randomized clinical trial2 comparing 10 days of NSAID monotherapy with 10 days of NSAIDs + muscle relaxants or opioids for acute nonradicular low back pain found no significant differences across the groups for pain, functional impairment, or use of health care resources. The authors said these findings suggest that combination therapy is not better than monotherapy in this situation, and that the use of opioids in such patients is not indicated.
Rotator Cuff Tears
–A two year follow-up of a randomized trial comparing three treatments for supraspinatus tears (physiotherapy, physiotherapy + acromioplasty, and rotator cuff repair + acromioplasty +physiotherapy) found no significant pain or function differences among the three groups. However, mean tear size was significantly smaller in the cuff-repair group than in the other two.
Pain Medicine
–A meta-analysis3 investigating the use of cannabinoids for managing chronic pain and spasticity concluded that those substances reduced pain and spasticity more than placebo, but the benefits came with an increased risk of side effects such as dizziness, nausea, confusion, and loss of balance.
Psychosocial Factors
–A randomized controlled trial4 comparing a phone-based cognitive-behavioral/physical therapy (CBPT) program to standard education following lumbar spine surgery found that patients in the CBPT group had greater decreases in pain and disability and increases in general health and physical performance.
References
- Jarvik JG, Gold LS, Comstock BA, Heagerty PJ, Rundell SD, Turner JA, Avins AL, Bauer Z, Bresnahan BW,Friedly JL, James K, Kessler L, Nedeljkovic SS, Nerenz DR, Shi X, Sullivan SD, Chan L, Schwalb JM, Deyo RA. Association of early imaging for back pain with clinical outcomes in older adults. JAMA. 2015 Mar17;313(11):1143-53.
- Friedman BW, Dym AA, Davitt M, Holden L, Solorzano C, Esses D, Bijur PE, Gallagher EJ. Naproxen with cyclobenzaprine, oxycodone/acetaminophen, or placebo for treating acute low back pain: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2015 Oct 20;314(15):1572-80.
- Whiting PF, Wolff RF, Deshpande S, DiNisio M, Duffy S, Hernandez AV, Keurentjes JC, Lang S, Misso K, Ryder S, Schmidlkofer S, Westwood M, Kleijnen J. Cannabinoids for medical use: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2015 Jun 23-30;313(24):2456-73.
- Skolasky RL, Maggard AM, Li D, Riley LH 3rd., Wegener ST. Health behavior change counseling in surgery for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. Part I: improvement in rehabilitation engagement and functional outcomes. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2015 Jul;96(7):1200-7. Epub 2015 Mar 28.
Acute Low Back Pain: Adding Oxycodone to Naproxen Doesn’t Help
As if on cue, a just-published study in JAMA backed up the recent AAOS statement on opioids by finding that neither the opiate oxycodone nor the muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) is a helpful adjunct to naproxen for acute, nontraumatic, nonradicular low back pain.
The study randomized 323 emergency-department (ED) patients presenting with low back pain to receive a 10-day course of naproxen + placebo, naproxen + cyclobenzaprine, or naproxen + oxycodone/acetaminophen. The improvement in scores on the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire between the time of ED discharge and one week later was similar in all three groups. This finding led Journal Watch Emergency Medicine Associate Editor Daniel Pallin, MD to comment that “prescribing opioids for a condition that evidence-based consensus guidelines warn against can lead to abuse and addiction.”
AAOS Issues Statement on Opioids in Orthopaedics
The current prescription-opioid/heroin epidemic in the US has been much publicized of late. According to a recent AAOS information statement, the nearly 100-percent increase in the number of narcotic pain-medication prescriptions between 2008 and 2011 corresponds to an increase in opioid diversion to nonmedical users as well as a resurgence in heroin use.
Among the strategies the AAOS statement calls for to stem the tide of opioid abuse and manage patient pain more safely and effectively are the following:
- Opioid-prescription policies at the practice level that
- set ranges for acceptable amounts and durations of opioids for various musculoskeletal conditions,
- limit opioid prescription sizes to only the amount of medication expected to be used,
- strictly limit prescriptions for extended-release opioids, and
- restrict opioid prescriptions for nonsurgical patients with chronic degenerative conditions.
- Tools (such as the opioid risk tool at MDCalc) that identify patients at risk for greater opioid use.
- Empathic communication with patients, who “use fewer opiates when they know their doctor cares about them as individuals,” according to the statement.
- An interstate tracking system that would allow surgeons and pharmacists to see all prescriptions filled in all states by a single patient.
- CME standards that require periodic physician CME on opioid safety and optimal pain management strategies.
Noting that stress, depression, and ineffective coping strategies tend to intensify a person’s experience of pain, the statement concludes that “peace of mind is the strongest pain reliever.”
Recent Comments