Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Overall, 3% to 12% of opioid-naive patients develop persistent opioid use after surgery. It is still unclear whether persistent opioid use after transabdominal surgery is associated with adverse surgical outcomes. We aimed to assess if new persistent opioid use after transabdominal surgery is associated with increased long-term mortality and readmission rates. ⋯ New persistent opioid use after transabdominal surgery was associated with higher rates of mortality and readmission rates. This calls for increased postoperative support for at-risk patients and increased support during transitions of care for these patients.
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Frailty correlates with worse postoperative outcomes and higher surgical cost, but the long-term impact on healthcare use remains ill-defined. We sought to evaluate patterns of healthcare use pre- and postsurgery among patients with gastrointestinal cancer and characterize the association with frailty. ⋯ Patients with gastrointestinal cancer demonstrated distinct clusters of healthcare use after surgical resection. Preoperative predictive models may help differentiate different healthcare use trajectories to help tailor care for patients in the postoperative period.