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TOPLINE
Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) who had their uterus removed in the hospital had a higher risk for complications, longer stays, and higher costs in patients than those without the disorder.
METHODOLOGY
- Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study using two US databases to evaluate whether OUD was associated with complications after hysterectomy.
- They analyzed data from 2016 to 2021 corresponding to over 2.29 million outpatients (mean age, 48.5 years) and 934,789 inpatients (mean age, 50.6 years).
- The primary outcome was composite postoperative complications before discharge. The secondary outcomes were length of stay in the hospital and hospital charges.
TAKEAWAY
- OUD affected about 1.0% of outpatients and 1.3% of inpatients.
- Outpatients with OUD had a composite complication rate of 3.8% and those without OUD had a rate of 3.4%.
- Inpatients with OUD had a composite complication rate of 14.7%; those without OUD had a rate of 11.8%, corresponding to an adjusted rate ratio of 1.18 (P < .001).
- OUD in inpatients was associated with longer stays in the hospital and higher hospital charges.
IN PRACTICE
“Understanding the relationship between OUD and postoperative complication risks could help surgeons identify who may benefit from additional preoperative optimization and education to improve postoperative outcomes and decrease postoperative healthcare expenses,” the researchers wrote.
SOURCE
The study was led by Stephanie L. Lim, MD, of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. It was published online on August 6 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
LIMITATIONS
Only complications observed during the initial hospitalization period were recorded. The dataset lacked details on perioperative care.
DISCLOSURES
The study was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, among others. The authors did not report any conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
