Persistent Opioid Use after Ophthalmic Surgery in Opioid-Naive Patients and Associated Risk Factors

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the rate and risk factors for new persistent opioid use after ophthalmic surgery in the United States.

Design: Retrospective claims-based cohort analysis.

Participants: Opioid-naive patients 13 years of age and older who underwent incisional ophthalmic surgery between January 1, 2012, and June 30, 2017, and were included in Optum's de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart database.

Methods: New persistent opioid use was defined as filling an opioid prescription in the 90-day and the 91- to 180-day periods after the surgical procedure. The outcome variable was an initial perioperative opioid prescription fill. Rates of new persistent opioid use were calculated, and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify variables increasing the risk of new persistent use and refill of an opioid prescription after the initial perioperative prescription in first 30 days.

Main outcome measures: New persistent opioid use and refill.

Results: A total of 327 379 opioid-naive patients (mean age, 67 years [standard deviation, 16 years]; 178 067 women [54.4%]) who underwent ophthalmic surgery were examined. Among these patients, 14 841 (4.5%) had an initial perioperative opioid fill. The rate of new persistent opioid use was 3.4% (498 of 14 841 patients) compared with 0.6% (1833 of 312 538 patients) in patients who did not have an initial perioperative opioid fill. After adjusting for patient characteristics, initial perioperative opioid fill was associated independently with increased odds of new persistent use (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 6.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.57-6.91; P < 0.001). Among patients who had filled an initial perioperative prescription, a prescription size of 150 morphine milligram equivalents or more was associated with an increased odds of refill (adjusted OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.58-2.22; P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Exposure to opioids in the perioperative period is associated with new persistent use in patients who were previously opioid-naive. This suggests that exposure to opioids is an independent risk factor for persistent use in patients undergoing incisional ophthalmic surgery. Surgeons should be aware of those risks to identify at-risk patients given the current national opioid crisis and to minimize prescribing opioids when possible.

Keywords: Drug abuse; Ophthalmic surgery; Opioids.