Patients undergoing abdominal surgery for Crohn's disease are more likely to incur postoperative complications, like greater morbidity and longer hospital stays, if they use narcotics preoperatively, according to a study published in JAMA Surgery.
The researchers analyzed data on 1,331 patients who underwent 1,461 abdominal surgeries between January 1998 and June 2014.
Patients who received at least one narcotics prescription within a month before surgery accounted for 18.3 percent of the study. These patients were prone to be smokers, have perianal disease and receive biologics therapy, and they stayed in the hospital an average of 11.2 days. Meanwhile, their counterparts who did not use narcotics preoperatively averaged 7.7 days. Forty-three percent of all patients experienced some form of complication, but in the narcotic users the rate jumped to 52.8 percent. Preoperative narcotic use was significantly related to five deaths.
These findings bear significance due to the endemic narcotic use of patients with Crohn's disease for pain management and other reasons. The researchers suggest earlier consideration for surgery should be given before initiating a long-term opioid treatment in patients with abdominal Crohn's disease.
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