Team Approach: Use of Opioids in Orthopaedic Practice.

Abstract

The opioid epidemic represents a serious health burden on patients across the United States. This epidemic is particularly pertinent to the field of orthopaedics because it is one of the fields providing the highest volume of opioid prescriptions. The use of opioids before orthopaedic surgery has been associated with decreased patient-reported outcomes, increased surgery-related complications, and chronic opioid use. Several patient-level factors, such as preoperative opioid consumption and musculoskeletal and mental health conditions, contribute to the prolonged use of opioids after surgery, and various screening tools for identifying high-risk drug use patterns are available. The identification of these high-risk patients should be followed by strategies aimed at mitigating opioid misuse, including patient education, opioid use optimization, and a collaborative approach between health care providers.