The number of outpatient visits for chronic abdominal pain decreased from 14.8 million visits from 1997-1999 to 12.2 million from 2006-2008, but the percentage of visits that resulted in opioid prescription increased from 5.9 percent to 12.2 percent in the same period.
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Use of Opioids for Abdominal Pain More Than Doubled in Past Decade
A study found opioid prescriptions for chronic abdominal pain more than doubled in U.S. outpatient clinics from 1997-2008, according to an American Gastroenterological Association news release.
