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Pain in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Is Not Improved During Hospitalization: The Impact of Opioids on Pain and Healthcare Utilization

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Abstract

Background

Most patients with IBD experience pain, especially during acute disease exacerbations. Opioid use continues to be more prevalent in IBD than any other chronic gastrointestinal condition, and the majority of IBD patients consume narcotics during hospitalization despite the risks of infection and death.

Methods

We performed a retrospective review of 57 subjects aimed at quantifying pain and opiate consumption for IBD-related admissions over a 3-month period. For each patient, the average and maximum of each day’s pain scores were used to measure changes in pain from admission to discharge using mixed model regression, with opiate use as a time-dependent covariate.

Results

The daily average pain score over the entire hospitalization was 4.23 ± 2.09, and the maximum pain score was 8.28 ± 1.75. Among opioid users (n = 51), the daily average pain score was 4.65 ± 2.16 and the maximum pain score was 7.53 ± 2.56. Across all cases from admission to discharge, there was less than a 1-point change in daily average pain (− 0.96 ± 2.03, p = 0.0009), and no change in maximum pain (− 0.89 ± 3.59, p = 0.0671). Opioid users, a subset of the overall cohort, had a similar less than one-point drop in daily average pain (− 0.94 ± − 0.29, p = 0.0024) and no change in daily maximum pain scores (− 0.81 ± − 0.47, p = 0.0914). Patients on average used 20 ± 25 mg morphine equivalents per day. Opioid-naïve patients used similar doses to those who used opioids prior to admission (PTA). Almost half of all cases (47%) were discharged with an opioid prescription, the majority (71%) of whom were not on opioids PTA.

Conclusions

Pain in IBD is not well controlled through hospitalization, with less than a 1-point change from admission to discharge, despite significant opioid consumption. Alternative analgesic methods should be explored, given the significant impact of narcotics on long-term outcomes including mortality and quality of life.

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Acknowledgments

There was no Grant support for this project as it was internally funded. The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. General Internal Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Sameer K. Berry & Will Takakura

  2. Biostatistics Core, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Catherine Bresee

  3. Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8730 Alden Drive, Steven Spielberg Building, Suite 2-East, Los Angeles, CA, 90048, USA

    Gil Y. Melmed

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  1. Sameer K. Berry
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Correspondence to Gil Y. Melmed.

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This research did not involve work with humans or animals (only retrospective). The study was approved by the Cedars-Sinai Institutional Review Board.

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Berry, S.K., Takakura, W., Bresee, C. et al. Pain in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Is Not Improved During Hospitalization: The Impact of Opioids on Pain and Healthcare Utilization. Dig Dis Sci 65, 1777–1783 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-019-05906-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-019-05906-x

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