The Seductive Poppy: Are Orthopaedists Able to Prevent a Second Wave of the Opium Pandemic with Outpatient Surgery?: Commentary on an article by Nathan H. Varady, SB, et al.: "Opioid Use Following Inpatient Versus Outpatient Total Joint Arthroplasty".

Downloaded from http://journals.lww.com/jbjsjournal by BhDMf5ePHKav1zEoum1tQfN4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCywCX1AWnYQp/IlQrHD3i3D0OdRyi7TvSFl4Cf3VC4/OAVpDDa8KKGKV0Ymy+78= on 04/21/2021 Downloaded from http://journals.lww.com/jbjsjournal by BhDMf5ePHKav1zEoum1tQfN4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCywCX1AWnYQp/IlQrHD3i3D0OdRyi7TvSFl4Cf3VC4/OAVpDDa8KKGKV0Ymy+78= on 04/21/2021 Commentary & Perspective The Seductive Poppy: Are Orthopaedists Able to Prevent a Second Wave of the Opium Pandemic with Outpatient Surgery? Opioid prescriptionsfollowinganorthopaedicprocedureremainfarmorecommonintheU.S.thaninEurope,andpatientswhoundergototal kneearthroplastyaresignificantlymorelikelytoreceiveanopioidprescriptioncomparedwiththosewhoundergototalhiparthroplasty andarealsosignificantlymorelikelytobecomepersistentopioidusers(atarateof;10%) 3 .Consideringthatarthroplastydoesnottreata diseasebutratherisapain-mediatingprocedure,wecanquestionwhetherarthroplastyisbeneficialforapatientwhohasadiseasewith some pain (but not enough pain as to require opioids) if undergoing the surgical procedure could lead to new persistent opioid use. Withthefearofasecondwaveinthe opioid pandemic, Varady et al. characterized the postoperative opioid prescriptions of patients undergoing inpatient versus outpatient TJA. [Extracted from the article]