The study highlights the need to establish clinical guidelines for surgical patients receiving MOUDs.

The study highlights the need to establish clinical guidelines for surgical patients receiving MOUDs.

introduction

To curb opioid overdose deaths, American health officials have promoted the prescription and use of medications such as buprenorphine. These medications reduce the effects of illegal opioids like fentanyl.

The challenge of operations

However, what happens when patients taking these medications require surgery and anesthesia?

Currently, there are no evidence-based guidelines to help physicians treat this patient population.

Study of Opioid Medication Use in Surgical Patients

To address these knowledge gaps, Mark Bicket, M.D., Ph.D., and his team examined trends in the use of medications to treat opioid addiction in surgical patients.

The results were published in the scientific journalAnesthesiologypublished.

Study overview

The team analyzed data from 2016-2022 from the Merative MarketScan Commercial Database. They focused on surgeries in adults ages 18 to 64 who had a claim for buprenorphine, methadone, or long-acting naltrexone (collectively categorized as MOUD, medications used to treat opioid dependence) within 1 to 180 days prior to the procedure.

Results of the study

• Die Nutzung von MOUD stieg von 154 pro 100.000 Eingriffe im Jahr 2016 auf 240 pro 100.000 Eingriffe im Jahr 2022, hauptsächlich aufgrund des Anstiegs bei Buprenorphin.
• Die Häufigkeit der MOUD-Nutzung nahm in allen Altersgruppen zu, mit Ausnahme der Patienten im Alter von 18-34, bei denen ein leichter Rückgang zu verzeichnen war.

Common types of operations

The most common operations performed on these patients were:

• Debridement (Wundreinigung)
• Orthopädische Eingriffe, wie Schultergelenkersatz
• Amputation der unteren Gliedmaßen
• Offene Reparatur von Hüft- oder Beckenfrakturen

Conclusions

The findings highlight the need to establish clinical practice guidelines for patients receiving MOUD, particularly in the field of orthopedic surgery. This should be used to coordinate care and pain management and minimize the risk of harm.

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