Baseline and postfusion opioid burden for patients with low back pain

To evaluate opioid usage patterns for patients with low back pain (LBP) with and without spinal fusion surgery (fusion patients and nonfusion patients, respectively), including long-term prescriptions post fusion. Claims data of outpatient pharmaceutical prescriptions from privately insured patients. The 3-year utilization, cost, and morphine milligram equivalents (MME) of opioid prescriptions were evaluated for patients with LBP with and without lumbar fusion. For fusion patients, opioid prescriptions before and after fusion, as well as prescription use 3, 6, and 12 months following fusion surgery, were analyzed. Thirty-one percent of patients with LBP had opioid prescriptions within the first 6 months of initial diagnosis, which increased to 42.1% within 3 years. More than twice as many fusion patients as nonfusion patients filled opioid prescriptions (87.2% vs 41.5%; P