• Hesham Mostafa Zakaria, Tarek R Mansour, Edvin Telemi, Karam Asmaro, Michael Bazydlo, Lonni Schultz, David R Nerenz, Muwaffak Abdulhak, Jad G Khalil, Richard Easton, Jason M Schwalb, Paul Park, and Victor Chang.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan.
• Neurosurgery. 2020 Jul 1; 87 (1): 142-149.

BackgroundIt is important to delineate the relationship between opioid use and spine surgery outcomes.ObjectiveTo determine the association between preoperative opioid usage and postoperative adverse events, patient satisfaction, return to work, and improvement in Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) in patients undergoing lumbar fusion procedures by using 2-yr data from a prospective spine registry.MethodsPreoperative opioid chronicity from 8693 lumbar fusion patients was defined as opioid-naïve (no usage), new users (<6 wk), short-term users (6 wk-3 mo), intermediate-term users (3-6 mo), and chronic users (>6 mo). Multivariate generalized estimating equation models were constructed.ResultsAll comparisons were to opioid-naïve patients. Chronic opioid users showed less satisfaction with their procedure at 90 d (Relative Risk (RR) 0.95, P = .001), 1 yr (RR 0.89, P = .001), and 2 yr (RR 0.89, P = .005). New opioid users were more likely to show improvement in ODI at 90 d (RR 1.25, P < .001), 1 yr (RR 1.17, P < .001), and 2 yr (RR 1.19, P = .002). Short-term opioid users were more likely to show ODI improvement at 90 d (RR 1.25, P < .001). Chronic opioid users were less likely to show ODI improvement at 90 d (RR 0.90, P = .004), 1 yr (RR 0.85, P < .001), and 2 yr (RR 0.80, P = .003). Chronic opioid users were less likely to return to work at 90 d (RR 0.80, P < .001).ConclusionIn lumbar fusion patients and when compared to opioid-naïve patients, new opioid users were more likely and chronic opioid users less likely to have improved ODI scores 2 yr after surgery. Chronic opioid users are less likely to be satisfied with their procedure 2 yr after surgery and less likely to return to work at 90 d. Preoperative opioid counseling is advised.Copyright © 2019 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

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