Opioid Prescription and Persistent Opioid Use After Ectopic Pregnancy

To evaluate outpatient opioid dispensing and the incidence of persistent opioid use after ectopic pregnancy.

This cohort study used U.S. employer-based claims data to identify opioid-naïve individuals experiencing ectopic pregnancy from November 1, 2008, to September 30, 2015. Treatment was categorized as surgical, medical (using methotrexate), or unknown. New opioid prescriptions were defined as prescriptions filled from 1 week before to 1 week after an ectopic pregnancy treatment. For those who filled a new opioid prescription, we calculated the incidence and risk factors for persistent opioid use, defined as having filled at least one opioid prescription both from 8 to 90 days after treatment and from 91 to 365 days after treatment.

Of the 15,338 individuals in our study, 7,047 (45.9%, 95% CI 45.2-46.7%) filled an opioid prescription at the time of treatment, of whom 4.1% (95% CI 3.6-4.6%) developed persistent opioid use. The risk of persistent opioid use was lower among those who had surgical compared with medical treatment (3.7% and 6.8%, respectively; relative risk [RR] 0.54, 95% CI 0.38-0.77). Variables most strongly associated with persistent opioid use were a history of benzodiazepine use (RR 1.99; 95% CI 1.43-2.78; adjusted relative risk [aRR] 1.57, 95% CI 1.11-2.22), antidepressant use (RR 1.91, 95% CI 1.45-2.53; aRR 1.53, 95% CI 1.08-2.18), and a pre-existing pain disorder (RR 1.58, 95% CI 1.26-1.99; aRR 1.47, 95% CI 1.16-1.85) in the year before treatment.

New opioid use is common after an ectopic pregnancy; approximately 4% of those with new opioid use develop persistent opioid use, with the rate higher in those treated medically. New pain-management guidelines need to be developed to prevent persistent opioid use after ectopic pregnancy.