Long-term opioid use lowers length of stay, deaths in hospitalized nonmetastatic CRC patients

Use of opioids in the long term leads to shorter length of stay (LOS) and reduced inpatient mortality among patients hospitalized with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), results of a study have shown. However, patients with cancer-related complications endure longer LOS and higher mortality than those admitted without such morbidities.

A team of investigators sought to examine the effect of opioid use and other factors on inpatient LOS and mortality among patients with nonmetastatic CRC in this study. They analysed discharge encounters obtained from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2016 to 2017 and assessed the effect of long-term opioid use (≥90 days) and cancer-related complications on LOS and mortality in this cohort.

In total, 94,535 patients with nonmetastatic CRC met the eligibility criteria for analysis. Long-term opioid users were found to have a shorter average LOS and lower inpatient mortality relative to nonopioid users (5.97 vs 6.66 days; p<0.01; adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.72, 95 percent confidence interval, 0.56‒0.93).

Infections, venous thromboembolism, and chemotherapy-induced neutropaenia were the factors that significantly increased both LOS and mortality: the corresponding average LOS was 2.7, 2.6, and 0.7 days longer, while the adjusted OR for inpatient mortality was 3.7, 1.2, and 1.2, respectively (p<0.05), for patients admitted with such cancer-related complications.

“Long-term opioid use is associated with decreased LOS and inpatient mortality among patients with nonmetastatic CRC,” the investigators said. “Individuals admitted for cancer-related complications face a longer LOS and increased mortality as compared with those admitted without these morbidities.”