TY - JOUR

T1 - Opioid dispensing in relation to arthroscopic knee surgery in Denmark from 2006 to 2018

AU - Thorlund, Jonas Bloch

AU - Lundberg, Matilde

AU - Petersen, Jindong Ding

AU - Englund, Martin

AU - Viberg, Bjarke

AU - Waldorff, Frans Boch

AU - Søndergaard, Jens

N1 - Articles published in the DMJ are “open access”. This means that the articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - INTRODUCTION: In the US, opioids are commonly prescribed after arthroscopic knee surgery. We aimed to investigate opioid dispensing in relation to arthroscopic knee surgeries from 2006 to 2018 in Denmark.METHODS: In Danish registries, we identified patients (≥ 15 years old) having arthroscopic knee surgery (anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction; meniscal surgery; cartilage resection; synovectomy and diagnostic arthroscopy) between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2018 and opioid dispensing (oral morphine equivalents (OMEQ)) within seven days after discharge from surgery.RESULTS: Among 218,940 patients, 15,263 (7%) had an opioid dispensed within seven days after being discharged following surgery. The opioid dispensing incidence (per 1,000 persons/year) increased during the study period for all procedures. This trend was more pronounced for ACL reconstruction, which recorded an increase from 86 (95% confidence interval (CI): 75-99) in 2006 to 278 (95% CI: 255-301) in 2018, corresponding to 9% and 28% of ACL patients, respectively. In the same period, the average amount of opioids dispensed within the first seven days after discharge decreased (change: 70.0 OMEQ (95% CI: 12.4-127.5)). Tramadol and oxycodone were the most commonly dispensed opioids.CONCLUSION: About 7% of patients had an opioid dispensed within the first seven days after discharge following arthroscopic knee surgery. The incidence of opioids dispensed increased for all investigated procedures from 2006 to 2018. In the same period, the average amount of opioids dispensed within the first seven days after discharge decreased.FUNDING: None.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not relevant.

AB - INTRODUCTION: In the US, opioids are commonly prescribed after arthroscopic knee surgery. We aimed to investigate opioid dispensing in relation to arthroscopic knee surgeries from 2006 to 2018 in Denmark.METHODS: In Danish registries, we identified patients (≥ 15 years old) having arthroscopic knee surgery (anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction; meniscal surgery; cartilage resection; synovectomy and diagnostic arthroscopy) between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2018 and opioid dispensing (oral morphine equivalents (OMEQ)) within seven days after discharge from surgery.RESULTS: Among 218,940 patients, 15,263 (7%) had an opioid dispensed within seven days after being discharged following surgery. The opioid dispensing incidence (per 1,000 persons/year) increased during the study period for all procedures. This trend was more pronounced for ACL reconstruction, which recorded an increase from 86 (95% confidence interval (CI): 75-99) in 2006 to 278 (95% CI: 255-301) in 2018, corresponding to 9% and 28% of ACL patients, respectively. In the same period, the average amount of opioids dispensed within the first seven days after discharge decreased (change: 70.0 OMEQ (95% CI: 12.4-127.5)). Tramadol and oxycodone were the most commonly dispensed opioids.CONCLUSION: About 7% of patients had an opioid dispensed within the first seven days after discharge following arthroscopic knee surgery. The incidence of opioids dispensed increased for all investigated procedures from 2006 to 2018. In the same period, the average amount of opioids dispensed within the first seven days after discharge decreased.FUNDING: None.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not relevant.

KW - Humans

KW - Adolescent

KW - Analgesics, Opioid/therapeutic use

KW - Arthroscopy

KW - Tramadol

KW - Patient Discharge

KW - Denmark/epidemiology

UR - https://ugeskriftet.dk/dmj/opioid-dispensing-relation-arthroscopic-knee-surgery-denmark-2006-2018

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37622647

VL - 70

JO - Danish Medical Journal

JF - Danish Medical Journal

SN - 2245-1919

IS - 9

M1 - A01230032

ER -