Opioid use at admittance increases need for intrahospital specialized pain service: Evidence from a registry-based study in four Norwegian university hospitals.

Objectives: Acute Pain Services (APS) have significantly evolved since their establishment in the 1990s, emphasizing multimodal analgesia, which is a pivotal component of enhanced recovery after surgery, to enhance postoperative recovery. Despite improvements, variability in pain trajectories among patients necessitated the development of transitional pain units to address individual needs and ensure safe opioid tapering. The Norwegian National Registry for Advanced Acute Pain Services (AAPS), known as SmerteReg, was established to further enhance understanding of pain treatment in these patients. In this study, we aimed to analyze opioid use patterns and characteristics of opioid users referred to AAPS compared to non-opioid users.

Methods: Data from SmerteReg (2016-2020) were analyzed, including patient demographics, diagnoses, pain treatment, and patient-reported outcome measures. Patient characteristics at admittance were compared between opioid users and non-opioid users. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore factors associated with opioid use.

Results: Of 1,068 patient tracks, 64% were opioid users at admittance. Opioid users were older and more frequently female, reporting higher levels of anxiety, depression, catastrophizing, and sleep problems before admission. Sleep problems before admittance was reported three times more frequent by patients using opioids compared to patients not using an opioid at admittance.

Conclusion: Pre-admittance opioid use was prevalent among patients referred to AAPS, emphasizing the need for tailored pain management strategies. Women, older patients, and those reporting sleep problems before admittance were more likely to use opioids. The finding that sleep problems before admittance were strongly associated with opioid use, suggests the importance of addressing sleep disturbances in pain management protocols. This study contributes to understanding opioid use patterns and factors influencing pain management in hospitalized patients.