Anesthesiology’s Mark Bicket, MD, PhD, and Surgery’s Jennifer Waljee, MD, will lead the study, which recently received NIH funding through the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
For the nearly 10 million American adults with a tolerance to opioids— defined as those who are currently taking at least 30 mg of oxycodone on a daily basis — a trip to the operating room brings a greater risk for complications during and after surgery.
Opioid-tolerant patients require higher doses of opioids to achieve adequate pain relief, often encounter high-risk prescribing practices within three months after surgery — including multiple opioid prescribers and high-dose opioid prescriptions — and may fail to return to their usual prescriber.