Risk Factors for Irrational use of Opioids

Received: 05-Dec-2022, Manuscript No. IJP-22-66797; Editor assigned: 07-Dec-2022, Pre QC No. IJP-22-66797 (PQ); Reviewed: 26-Dec-2022, QC No. IJP-22-66797; Revised: 03-Jan-2023, Manuscript No. IJP-22-66797 (R); Published: 12-Jan-2023, DOI: 10.37532/2249-1848.2023.13(1).28

Description

Opioid analgesics are used as the primary pain reliever in 80 percent of surgical patients over the world. The inappropriate use of opioids, on the other hand, leads to excessive drug dependence and misuse, resulting in a higher mortality rate and significant economic loss. Opioid overuse continues to be a major problem.

Despite the growing use of minimally invasive operations and novel drugs, opioid analgesics remain one of the most common treatments for post-surgery pain. Opioids are given to 80% of patients who have surgery for postoperative pain management. Analgesia that is adequate increases recovery and improves surgical outcomes, according to numerous studies. Opioids, however, can have a variety of side effects. Opioid-related elevated risks for opioid misuse, abuse, dependence, addiction, and overdose mortality have been a major problem in recent decades. Postoperative morbidity and mortality, as well as the use of healthcare resources, are all raised as a result of these catastrophic events.

In India, 8,000 people die each year as a result of opioid exposure. This number outnumbers both motor vehicle accidents and acquired immune deficiency syndrome mortality combined. Notably, the majority of opioid-related hospitalizations are now due to opioid intoxication rather than opioid addiction or dependency. Furthermore, significant financial resources are required to treat drug addiction and overdoses in the United States: the expenses of opioid use, abuse, and overdose in 2013 were $78.5 billion. As a result, controlling and preventing the devastating repercussions of the current opioid crisis is a huge problem.

The risk factors for opioid abuse have been described in an increasing number of researches. However, until now, no systematic and comprehensive evaluation has focused on the current preventative techniques utilized to reduce opioid misuse and abuse, leaving clinicians with little useful guidance. Prior to prescribing opioids for pain, a clinician should carefully examine the risks of developing an opioid use disorder in order to choose the best monitoring approach and dosage.

More than 300 million individuals have surgical treatments each year, according to a 2012 study on the global volume of surgery. After surgery, pain is a primary cause of opioid use disorder and opioid prescription. Following various types of procedures, the rate of opioid misuse varies. This covers 462,985 opioid-naive surgical patients and 12,200,234 opioid-naive nonsurgical patients in a large-scale retrospective investigation. Except for cataract surgery, laparoscopic appendectomy their findings show that numerous surgical procedures are linked to an elevated risk of chronic opioid usage in the postoperative term. Patients with pre-existing illnesses, such as diabetes, heart failure, and lung disease, received a greater dose of opioids during the 90-day postoperative period, according to the researchers.

Conclusion

Every year, the opioid usage epidemic spreads over the world, with deadly results. Governments, institutions, and individual clinicians must move quickly to develop effective ways to avert the current disaster. As a result, a thorough understanding of the prevalence and risk factors associated with opioid misuse is required. Furthermore, in such patient populations, pain issues must be addressed with caution. In this battle to reduce opioid abuse, national policies and regulations, hospital rules, and clinicians should all play a key role. Of course, additional scientific study is needed to uncover more effective prevention techniques, such as targeting specific genes and producing vaccinations, in order to assist the greatest number of people while minimizing negative effects.