Pre-operative chronic opioid or glucocorticoid use and mortality after noncardiac surgery: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND The chronic use of opioids and glucocorticoids is associated with serious side effects. Moreover, both medications are related to poor long-term postoperative outcomes. OBJECTIVE The study aimed to investigate the association between pre-operative chronic opioid and glucocorticoid use and 90-day mortality after noncardiac surgery. DESIGN Retrospective, population-based cohort study. SETTING Single tertiary academic hospital. PATIENTS The study enrolled adult (≥18 years of age) patients admitted to Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, between January 2012 and December 2018 for planned, elective, noncardiac surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The study compared the 90-day mortality for patients using opioids or glucocorticoids chronically (≥3 months) prior to surgery and for opioid-naïve and glucocorticoid-naïve patients. RESULTS A total of 112 606 patients were included in the study. Among them, 107 843 (95.9%) were opioid-naïve and glucocorticoid-naïve patients; 3373 (3.0%), 1199 (1.1%) and 191 patients (0.2%) were chronic users of opioids, glucocorticoids or both, respectively. In the multivariable model, compared with opioid-naïve and glucocorticoid-naïve patients, the odds of dying within 90 days were significantly higher for chronic users of opioids [3.56-fold; 95% confidence intervals (CIs) 2.36 to 5.38; P 
Source: European Journal of Anaesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Pain Source Type: research