Cardiac surgery's long opioid dependency: time to recalibrate pain therapy? Editorial Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Opioid analgesia is the cornerstone of anaesthetic management during cardiac surgery. However, a subset of patients use opioids persistently after 3 months of surgery. We discuss a recent meta-analysis and systematic review by Liu and colleagues describing both patient and peri-procedural risk factors that contribute to this phenomenon in the context of chronic pain after cardiac surgery. Anaesthetists for cardiac surgery should consider opioid alternatives and individual patient risk factors to optimise recovery and pain control.

publication date

  • September 14, 2022

Research

keywords

  • Cardiac Surgical Procedures
  • Opioid-Related Disorders
  • Pain Management

Identity

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.bja.2022.08.008

PubMed ID

  • 36115713