ology at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C.
The overall impact of the crisis should provide the evidence sur-
geons need to alter how they use opioids, says Dr. Manning. Consider,
he says, the following troubling statistics:
• 50 million surgeries are performed each year, and 90% of patients
are prescribed opioids to control post-op pain.
• As many as 6.5% of patients (about 2.6 million) who have major
surgery become chronic users.
• About 440,000 of those 2.6 million chronic users will become
addicted.
• 1 billion opioid pills each year go unused by recovering patients.
• 32% of opioid addicts say their first exposure came from someone
else's leftover supply.
• $13 billion in annual healthcare costs associated with the treat-
ment of opioid addiction can be linked to post-op pain manage-
ment.
• 20% of patients who take opioids daily for 10 days and nearly 40%
of patients who take opioids daily for 30 days will still be on opi-
oids a year later, says the CDC.
• 85% of pills that enter communities come from surgeons or den-
tists.
As recently as 5 years ago, many surgeons were largely unaware of
the dangers of overprescribing to opioid-naïve patients and that they
were helping to fuel a staggering epidemic, according to Dr. Kolodny.
"That speaks to the need for more caution before writing first-time
prescriptions," he says. "Improving prescribing practices after surgery
is critical to addressing the current crisis."
Fewer pills, fewer problems
Dr. Kolodny says that even with the most ambitious projections, opi-
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