[ad_1]
(HealthDay) – A new study reveals that children with elbow fractures may be over-prescribed as opioid painkillers that can be addictive.
Excessive prescribing involves giving children too much opioids when they are sent home – increasing the risk that the remaining medicines will be "diverted" for illicit use.
"This study suggests that orthopedic surgeons really need to think about our current prescribing practices and ways to reduce the risk of over-prescription and opioid diversion," said Dr. Apurva Shah, author of the study. . He is an orthopedic surgeon at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
The study included 81 patients, averaging about 6 years old, who had been operated on the most common type of elbow fracture in children.
On average, they took only 24% of the prescribed opioid badgesics. Opioids include drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin.
Eighteen patients did not take any opioid medication after they left the hospital and 18 took over-the-counter painkillers such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
Only ten days after the surgery, only 11 patients were taking any type of pain medication. At day 14, six patients were taking over-the-counter badgesics and by day 21, only four were still using them, according to the study.
The finding that patients used an average of less than 25% of the prescribed opioid medications suggests a potential risk of opioid overprescription, which contributes to the opioid epidemic in the country. For example, they stated that research had revealed that about 40% of adolescents abusing opioids had obtained them with remaining prescriptions.
The researchers found that more than half of all opioid prescriptions in the United States were for patients discharged by orthopedic surgeons. And the authors think that fewer pills can be prescribed.
"Based on this study, which we believe can be applied to other types of common orthopedic injuries, a prescription for a much shorter period of time seems to be appropriate," Shah said in a press release. A hospital.
The authors of the study also suggested that researchers determine whether non-opioid badgesics are as effective as opioids in managing the pain of patients with these common childhood injuries.
The results were recently published online in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.
CHOP surgeons discover that opioids are often too prescribed for elbow fractures in children
The American Academy of Pediatrics has more about opioids.
Copyright © 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Quote:
According to one study, opioids over-prescribed for common fractures in children (February 12, 2019)
recovered on February 12, 2019
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-02-opioids-overprescrib-common-children-fracture.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair use for study or private research purposes, no
part may be reproduced without written permission. Content is provided for information only.
[ad_2]
Source link
