Researchers identified Veterans Health Administration patients who had undergone total knee arthroplasty surgery from 2010 to 2015. Outpatient opioid prescriptions were identified 18 months before and after surgery. Opioid freedom was defined as a six-month period without opioids, and researchers compared patients who were opioid-free preoperatively to those who were opioid-free 18 months postoperatively.
The key details to know:
1. Out of a 33,927-patient cohort, 41 percent were opioid-free a month before surgery.
2. Fifty-four percent were opioid-free 18 months following surgery.
3. Preoperative opioid freedom was more greatly associated with postoperative freedom from opioids than other medical or social factors.
4. Researchers concluded, “Total knee arthroplasty was associated with an increase in postoperative freedom from opioids. Low preoperative dose of opioids was more strongly associated with postoperative opioid-freedom than patient characteristics, suggesting that opioid prescription patterns are a chief driver of opioid use after surgery.”
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