Surgeon Variation in Perioperative Opioid Prescribing and Medium- or Long-term Opioid Utilization after Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Cross-sectional Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Whether a particular surgeon's opioid prescribing behavior is associated with prolonged postoperative opioid use is unknown. This study tested the hypothesis that the patients of surgeons with a higher propensity to prescribe opioids are more likely to utilize opioids long-term postoperatively.

Methods

The study identified 612,378 Medicare fee-for-service patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2016. "High-intensity" surgeons were defined as those whose patients were, on average, in the upper quartile of opioid utilization in the immediate perioperative period (preoperative day 7 to postoperative day 7). The study then estimated whether patients of high-intensity surgeons had higher opioid utilization in the midterm (p

SUBMITTER: Cen X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9991517 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature