For Many, Opioid Use Lingers Long After Surgery, Study Finds

About 6% of patients who weren’t taking opioids before an elective surgery became long-term users of the pain pills after their operation, according to research published online Wednesday in JAMA Surgery. Similar results were seen regardless of whether the surgery was major or minor, a category that included carpal tunnel surgery. “New persistent opioid use is more common than previously reported and can be considered one of the most common complications after elective surgery,” concluded the authors, a team of researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School. Th...