Opioid Poisoning and Opioid Use Disorder in Older Trauma Patients

Background: Patients hospitalized following a traumatic injury will be frequently treated with opioids during their stay and after discharge. We examined the relationship between acute phase (<3 months) opioid use after discharge and the risk of opioid poisoning or use disorder in older trauma patients.

Methods: In a retrospective multicenter cohort study conducted on registry data, we included all patients ≥65 years admitted (hospital stay >2 days) for injury in 57 trauma centers in the province of Quebec (Canada) between 2004 and 2014. We searched for opioid poisoning and opioid use disorder from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code diagnosis after their initial injury. Patients that filled an opioid prescription within a 3-month period after sustaining the trauma were compared to those who did not, using Cox proportional hazards regressions.

Results: A total of 70,314 admissions were retained for analysis; median age was 82 years (IQR: 75-87), 68% were women, and 34% of the patients filled an opioid prescription within 3 months of the initial trauma. During a median follow-up of 2.6 years (IQR: 1-5), 192 participants (0.27%; 95% CI: 0.23%-0.31%) were hospitalized for opioid poisoning and 73 (0.10%; 95% CI: 0.08%-0.13%) were diagnosed with opioid use disorder. Having filled an opioid prescription within 3 months of injury was associated with an increased hazard ratio of opioid poisoning (2.8; 95% CI: 2.1-3.8) and opioid use disorder (4.2; 95% CI: 2.4-7.4) after the injury. However, history of opioid poisoning (2.6; 95% CI: 1.1-5.8), of substance use disorder (4.3; 95% CI: 2.4-7.7), or of the opioid prescription filled (2.8; 95% CI: 2.2-3.6) before the trauma, was also related to opioid poisoning or opioid use disorder after the injury.

Conclusion: Opioid poisoning and opioid use disorder are rare events after hospitalization for trauma in older patients. However, opioids should be used cautiously in patients with a history of substance use disorder, opioid poisoning or opioid use.