Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

Plastic Surgeons Get Tips On Managing Opioid Addiction Risk

October 4, 2017 By Wolters Kluwer Health

Opioid medications prescribed for pain management after plastic surgery may contribute to the ongoing opioid epidemic, according to a special topic paper in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Plastic surgeons must recognize their patients’ risk of developing opioid use disorders and that the opioids they prescribe may be diverted to non-medical use, according to the article by Daniel Demsey, MD, of University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and colleagues.

“Surgeon opioid prescribing practices contribute to the opioid addiction crisis,” Demsey says. “Improvements in prescribing practices can improve patient safety.”

Managing the Risks As for other types of surgery, patients undergoing plastic and reconstructive surgery are commonly prescribed opioid medications to manage postoperative pain. In recent years, increased opioid prescribing has been closely linked to increases in opioid overdose.

“The scale of the opioid addiction epidemic is difficult to exaggerate,” according to Demsey and coauthors. They cite studies reporting that 4.7 percent of the U.S. population aberrantly used prescription opioids in 2015. In the same year, nearly 29,000 people died due to prescription opioid overdose.

(Image credit: Associated Press)

Opioids prescribed after surgery contribute to the opioid crisis in two ways: by exposing patients to potentially addictive medications and by contributing to the street supply of opioid drugs. Patients with previous chronic opioid use are more likely to still be taking these drugs one year after surgery. Even patients who have never taken opioids before are at risk of persistent use.

Risk factors for persistent opioid use include previous substance use disorders, mental health problems such as anxiety or depression, female sex, and low socioeconomic status. Patients with chronic pain who are already taking opioids are at higher risk of complications or death after major surgery and incur higher health care costs.

Many patients don’t use all the opioid medications prescribed after surgery, with a risk that these leftover drugs will be diverted to nonmedical use by the patient or others. Most people with prescription opioid use disorder get the drugs from friends and family.

Demsey and coauthors suggest strategies for plastic surgeons to reduce the risks of persistent opioid use or diversion. Patients should be screened for risk factors for opioid use disorder; talking to patients about these risks in a nonjudgmental way may encourage them to use their pain medications cautiously. The patient’s primary care doctor should also be informed about the possible increase in risk.

For patients at risk, outcomes can be improved by referral to a transitional pain service, including development of an opioid weaning plan. Patients with known or suspected substance use disorder should be referred to an addiction specialist, preferably before surgery.

The authors say, “Elective surgery in patients with established substance use disorders should not be performed until follow-up for substance use has been arranged.”

Other strategies can help to reduce the need for opioids, including the use of combination anesthesia techniques and prescribing nonopioid pain medications after surgery. Educating patients about proper storage and disposal of opioid medications can help to reduce the risk of persistent opioid use or diversion.

Demsey says, “Although we cannot solve the opioid addiction crisis on our own, as plastic surgeons we can make a major contribution.”

Related Articles Read More >

Lazurite ArthroFree wireless surgical camera system Minnetronix Medical
How Minnetronix Medical helped Lazurite with its wireless surgical camera
Medtronic Hugo robot-assisted surgery system
The road to a robot: Medtronic’s development process for its Hugo RAS system
A portrait of Stryker executive Siddarth Satish
How Stryker includes users for product design in the digital age
A portrait of Stryker executive Tracy Robertson
Stryker leaders talk medtech trends at DeviceTalks Boston: ‘If you’re slow, you’re going to lose’

DeviceTalks Weekly.

May 20, 2022
DeviceTalks Boston Post-Game – Editors’ Top Moments, Insulet’s Eric Benjamin on future of Omnipod 5
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech