Daily preop opioid use linked to worse outcomes after scoliosis surgery

Editor's Note

Daily narcotic use before adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery was associated with poorer outcomes 2 years postoperatively, this study finds.

In this multicenter analysis of 575 patients, 425 had complete 2-year follow-up. A total of 44% reported daily preoperative narcotic use.

Compared with non-daily users, daily narcotic users had higher odds of prolonged length of stay (odds ratio = 1.7), an average of 16 hours longer stay in the ICU, and higher odds of using daily narcotics 2 years after surgery (odds ratio = 6.9).

The study findings improve clinicians’ understanding of narcotic use in ASD patients and how surgical outcomes may be affected, the researchers say.