Effect of Opioids on All-cause Mortality and Opioid Addiction in Total Hip Arthroplasty: a Korea Nationwide Cohort Study

Association of tramadol use with risk of hip fractures in patients with osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

OBJECTIVE

Many studies have reported conflicting results for the use of tramadol with the risk of fractures, especially hip fractures. This systematic review and meta-analysis study aimed to evaluate the association of tramadol use versus codeine use with the risk of hip fracture for the first time.

METHODS

PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases were searched with specific keywords to find studies that examined the association of tramadol use with hip fracture risk in patients with osteoarthritis up to May 2023. The risk of hip fracture secondary to tramadol versus codeine use was estimated based on age and sex. This systematic review was conducted based on the PRISMA checklist. Heterogeneity between studies was evaluated using Cochran's Q and I2 tests. Egger's test was used to check publication bias. The Newcastle-Ottawa Checklist (NOS) was used to assess the quality of the studies.

FINDINGS

Ten studies with 1,939,293 participants were reviewed. The majority of participants were female. Based on the study evaluation checklist, most studies were of good quality. Tramadol use significantly increases the overall risk of hip fracture. (HR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.14, 1.51, P: 0.001, I2:19.3%) Tramadol use significantly increases the risk of hip fracture in men (HR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.24, 1.73, P: 0.001 I2:35%) and age ≤65 years (HR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.45, 1.80, P: 0.001, I2:0%).

CONCLUSION

The use of tramadol significantly increases the risk of hip fracture. This increased risk of hip fracture was greater in males younger than 65 years.

Topical use of tranexamic acid can reduce opioid consumption compared with intravenous use for patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty: a prospective randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

The problem of opioid addiction after total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been widely concerned. Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been shown to be effective in reducing blood loss for patients undergoing THA, but few studies focus on its alleviation of postoperative local pain symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether topical TXA could reduce early postoperative hip pain for primary THA patients, thereby reducing the use of opioids, and whether local pain is related to inflammatory response.

METHODS

In this prospective randomized controlled study, we randomly divided 161 patients into a topical group (n = 79) and an intravenous group (n = 82). Hip pain was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS) score within three days after surgery and tramadol was used for pain relief when necessary. Inflammatory markers such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), interleukin-6 (IL-6), total blood loss and hemoglobin drop were assessed by hematologic tests. The primary outcomes included the VAS score and dose of tramadol from the first to the third day after surgery. The secondary outcomes included the inflammatory markers level, total blood loss and complications.

RESULTS

The pain score and inflammation markers level on the first day in the topical TXA group were significantly lower than those in the intravenous TXA group (P < 0.05). The correlation analysis showed that the VAS score on the first day after surgery was positively correlated with the inflammation markers level (P < 0.05). The tramadol dose for topical group was lower than intravenous group on the first and second day after surgery. There were no differences in total blood loss between the two groups (640.60 ± 188.12 ml vs. 634.20 ± 187.85 ml, P = 0.06). There was no difference in the incidence of complications.

CONCLUSION

Topical use of TXA could relieve the local pain symptoms and reduce opioid consumption compared with intravenous use for patients undergoing primary THA by reduce the early postoperative inflammatory response.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The trial was registered at the China Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2100052396) on 10/24/2021.

Chronic Opioid Use Independently Increases Complications and Resource Utilization After Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty

BACKGROUND

Current literature suggests a link between the chronic use of opioids and musculoskeletal surgical complications. Given the current opioid epidemic, the need to elucidate the effects of chronic opioid use (OD) on patient outcomes and cost has become important. The purpose of this study was to determine if OD is an independent risk factor for inpatient postoperative complications and resource utilization after primary total joint arthroplasty.

METHODS

A total of 3,545,565 patients undergoing elective, unilateral, primary total hip (THA) and knee (TKA) arthroplasty for osteoarthritis from January 2016 to December 2019 were identified using a large national database. In-hospital postoperative complications, length of stay, and total costs adjusted for inflation in opioid + patients were compared with patients without chronic opioid use (OD). Logistic regression analyses were used to control for cofounding factors.

RESULTS

OD patients undergoing either THA or TKA had a higher risk of postoperative complications including respiratory (odds ratio (OR): 1.4 and OR: 1.3), gastrointestinal (OR: 1.8 and OR: 1.8), urinary tract infection (OR: 1.1 and OR: 1.2), blood transfusion (OR: 1.5 and OR: 1.4), and deep vein thrombosis (OR: 1.7 and OR: 1.6), respectively. Total cost ($16,619 ± $9,251 versus $15,603 ± $9,181, P < .001), lengths of stay (2.15 ± 1.37 versus 2.03 ± 1.23, P < .001), and the likelihood for discharge to a rehabilitation facility (17.8 versus 15.7%, P < .001) were higher in patients with OD.

CONCLUSION

OD was associated with higher risk for in-hospital postoperative complications and cost after primary THA and TKA. Further studies to find strategies to mitigate the impact of opioid use on complications are required.

Effect of Opioids on All-cause Mortality and Sustained Opioid Use in Elderly Patients with Hip Fracture: a Korea Nationwide Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

The purpose of our study was to assess the use of opioids before and after hip fracture in elderly patients in order to determine the effect of opioid use on all-cause mortality, and to analyze how the history of opioid use before fracture increases the risk of sustained use following hip fracture using a Korea nationwide cohort.

METHODS

Our study identified hip fracture patients from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Senior cohort. The index date was defined as 90-days after admission to the acute care hospital that fulfilled the eligibility criteria of elderly hip fracture. Patients were classified into past user, current user, and sustained user according to the use of opioid at each period based on the time of admission and index date. The opioids were classified into strong opioids and tramadol. A generalized estimating equation model with a Poisson distribution and logarithmic link function was performed to estimate the adjusted rate ratios (aRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the association between past use and sustained use. A multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard model was used to investigate the effects of strong opioid and tramadol use on all-cause mortality.

RESULTS

A total of 12,927 patients were included in our study. There were 7,384 (57.12%) opioid past-users, 11,467 (88.71%) opioid current-users, and 7,172 (55.48%) sustained users. In comparison of the death risk according to current use or the defined daily dose of the opioids or past opioid use, there were no significant differences in the adjusted hazard ratio for death in all groups, compared to the current non-users (P > 0.05). Among survivors 1 year after hip fracture, opioid past-use increased the risk of opioid sustained use by 1.52-fold (aRR; 95% CI, 1.45-1.8; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Current use and past use of opioid did not increase all-cause mortality after hip fracture in elderly patients over 65 years of age. Past use of opioid before hip fracture increased risk of sustained use of opioid compared to the current opioid used without past use.