Articles: opioid.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Sep 2018
Initial results of a drug checking pilot program to detect fentanyl adulteration in a Canadian setting.
Opioid overdose deaths in North America have been rising largely as a result of fentanyl adulteration in the illegal drug supply. Drug checking is an established harm reduction intervention in some European settings but has not been broadly implemented or evaluated in North America. We are evaluating a pilot program offering drug checking for people who use street drugs in Vancouver, British Columbia. ⋯ This pilot program has demonstrated the feasibility of drug checking for identifying individual drug samples containing unexpected or hazardous substances, including fentanyl. By identifying the range of adulterants and diluents and giving an estimate of their prevalence in different drug types, it has also provided information about the composition of the illicit drug supply in an urban North American setting.
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Potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) may contribute to opioid overdose. ⋯ PIP was associated with higher hazard for all-cause mortality, fatal overdose, and non-fatal overdose. Our study implies the possibility of creating a risk score incorporating multiple PIP subtypes, which could be displayed to prescribers in real time.
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OBJECTIVE The opioid crisis is identified as a national emergency and epidemic in the United States. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors associated with opioid dependence in patients undergoing surgery for degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS). METHODS The authors queried MarketScan databases to investigate the factors affecting postsurgery opioid use in patients with DS between 2000 and 2012. ⋯ Surgical decompression with fusion was not associated with increased risk of postsurgery opioid dependence in patients with DS. Overall, opioid dependence was reduced by 4.96% after surgery for DS. Prior opioid dependence is associated with increased risk and increasing age is associated with decreased risk of opioid dependence following surgery for DS.
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The use of narcotics has been found to be a modifiable risk factor for success of arthroplasty. We sought to determine the risk factors leading to increased narcotic use after total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty. ⋯ This study suggests that a patient's preoperative narcotic, tramadol, benzodiazepine, and tobacco use are correlated to the amount of postoperative narcotic prescriptions filled in the 3 months following surgery. Predisposition to substance abuse may be a characteristic which leads to increased postoperative narcotic use.
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Primary lumbar fusion (LF) is a treatment option for degenerative disc disease. The literature is limited regarding postoperative complications in opioid abusers undergoing LF. The purpose of this study was to compare 2-year short term implant-related complications, infection rates, 90-day readmission rates, in-hospital length of stay, and cost of care amongst opioid abusers (OAS) and non-opioid abusers (NAS) undergoing primary 1- to 2-level primary lumbar fusion (1-2LF). ⋯ OAS are susceptible to complications following primary 1-2LF. Appropriate patient counseling regarding the effects of opioids on lumbar fusion should be given priority to maximize patient outcomes. Future studies should investigate the impact of pre-operative opioid abuse versus post-operative opioid use.