Opiate Use in ICU Does Not Appear to Increase Opiate Prescription a Year After Discharge

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – ATS 2019, Dallas, TX ─ Patients given opioids in the intensive care unit do not appear to be at higher risk of receiving opioid prescriptions once they leave the hospital, according to research presented at ATS 2019. Researchers studied patients who entered the ICU having never taken opioids, compared those whose care required opiates and those whose care did not, and found that there was no difference in the number of opioid prescriptions between the two groups one year after discharge.