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Heart surgery leads to long-term opioid use for some

from HealthDay via U.S. News & World Report

Heart surgery leads to long-term opioid use for some HealthDay via U.S. News & World Report About one in 10 heart surgery patients who is prescribed an opioid painkiller after the procedure still uses the drugs more than 90 days later, a new study finds. And those prescribed the highest doses are most likely to be long-term users of opioids, researchers say. "Our findings support a much-needed shift toward decreasing opioid dosages at discharge and using alternative approaches to reduce the risk for persistent opioid use," study lead author Dr. Chase Brown said in a University of Pennsylvania news release. READ MORE

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