Risk of Opioid Use Disorder from Exposure to Opioids in the Perioperative Period: A Systematic Review

Opioid use disorder, a major source of morbidity and mortality globally, is regularly linked to opioids given around the time of surgery. Perioperative period, however, is markedly heterogeneous, with the diverse providers using opioids distinctively, and the various drivers of opioid misuse at-play dissimilarly, throughout the perioperative period. The risk of opioid use disorder may, therefore, be different from opioids given at the various phases of perioperative care, and the ensuing recommendations for their use may also be dissimilar. Systematic search and analysis of the pertinent literature, following the accepted standards, showed an overall increased risk of misuse from the perioperative opioids. However, the analyzed studies had significant methodological limitations, and were constrained mainly to the out-patient phase of the perioperative period. Lacking any data, this risk, therefore, is unknown for intraoperative and postoperative recovery periods. Consequently, no firm recommendations can be extended to anesthesia providers generally managing these perioperative stages. Furthermore, with significant methodological limitations, the current recommendations for opioid use after surgery are also arbitrary. Thus, though proposals for perioperative opioid use are formulated in this article, substantive recommendations would require clear delineation of these risks, while avoiding the limitations noted in this review.