Risks of Chronic Preoperative Opioid Use on Distal Radius Surgery Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of chronic preoperative opioid use on complications, reoperation rates, and postoperative opioid use among patients undergoing open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of distal radius fractures.

A retrospective review of 111 patients who underwent ORIF of a distal radius fracture from 2019 to 2021 at an academic medical center by the same fellowship-trained orthopedic hand surgeon was conducted. Patient demographics, medical comorbidities, perioperative details, surgical complications, and patient-reported outcome measures were analyzed. The SCRIPTS database was used to obtain opioid prescription data.

A total of 10 patients (9.01%) were identified as preoperative chronic opioid users. This group was not associated with risk of increased complication. However, they were more likely to continue using narcotics at 90 and 180 days postoperatively. Patients with a history of substance use were at an increased risk of hardware complications and prolonged postoperative pain. In addition, these patients were more likely to receive narcotics at 90 and 180 days, and to have more refills postoperatively.

Patients with preoperative opioid use are not at an increased risk of surgical complication following ORIF of distal radius fractures. However, they are at an increased risk of prolonged postoperative opioid use. Patients with a known history of substance use were at an increased risk of hardware complications, prolonged pain, and increased postoperative opioid use. Surgeons should consider these associations to better manage individual patients in the postoperative period.