HealthDay News – In patients with surgically treated orthopedic fractures, treating pain with strong opioid medications is not superior to milder medication, according to a study published online Nov. 17 on JAMA Network Open.
Deanne E. Jenkin, Ph.D., of the University of South Wales at Sydney, and colleagues conducted a double-blind, randomized, clinical superiority study in a major accident hospital with a center to compare analgesia with strong and mild opioids. Participants were inpatients who had suffered an acute non-pathological fracture of a long bone or of the pelvis, patella, calcaneus, or talus and were treated with surgical fixation. One hundred and twenty patients were randomly assigned as follows: 59 strong opioids (mean oral morphine equivalent of 32.9 mg for days 1 to 7) and 61 to light opioids (mean oral morphine equivalent of 5.5 mg for days 1 to 7).
The researchers found that from days 1 to 7 after discharge, the mean pain score on the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NRS) daily was 4.04 and 4.54 in the group with severe and −1.11 to 0.12, respectively ; P = 0.11).
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“These results suggest that persistent heavy opioid use should not be supported after hospital discharge,” the authors write.
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Subjects:
Pain associated with opioid use
