hydrocodone and Fractures--Bone

Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of oxycodone and hydrocodone for the treatment of acute pain. However, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous reports have compared the efficacies of these commonly prescribed agents.. To compare the efficacies of oxycodone and hydrocodone for the treatment of acute pain associated with fractures in emergency department (ED) patients.. This prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial was conducted at an urban trauma center with an annual census of 65,000. Eligible participants included ED patients over the age of 12 years with fractures who consented to participate. Subjects were randomized to receive either oxycodone (5 mg orally [po]) with acetaminophen, or hydrocodone (5 mg po) with acetaminophen. Measurements included demographic information; pain scores on a verbal numeric rating scale at baseline and at 30 and 60 minutes; vital signs at baseline and at 30 and 60 minutes; and adverse effects. Ninety-five-percent confidence intervals (95% CIs) constructed about means and proportions were used to assess differences between the oxycodone and hydrocodone groups in analgesic efficacy and side effects.. Seventy-three subjects were randomized to receive oxycodone or hydrocodone. Sixty-seven subjects completed the ED study period (n = 35, oxycodone; n = 32, hydrocodone). There was no difference between the two groups in age, weight, gender, ethnicity, diagnoses, baseline pain scores, or vital signs. Patients in both groups had pain relief from baseline to 30 minutes (oxycodone mean change 3.7, 95% CI = 2.9 to 4.6; hydrocodone mean change 2.5, 95% CI = 1.7 to 3.3), and from baseline to 60 minutes (oxycodone mean change 4.4, 95% CI = 3.2 to 5.6; hydrocodone mean change 3.0, 95% CI = 2.1 to 3.9). There was no difference in pain between the patients treated with oxycodone and hydrocodone at 30 minutes (mean difference between groups -0.6, 95% CI = -1.8 to 0.5) or at 60 minutes (mean difference -0.5, 95% CI = -2.0 to 1.0). There was no difference between the groups in nausea, vomiting, itching, or drowsiness; however, the hydrocodone patients had a higher incidence of constipation (oxycodone 0%, hydrocodone 21%, difference in proportions 21%, 95% CI = 3% to 39% more with hydrocodone).. Treatment with acetaminophen and either oxycodone, 5 mg po, or hydrocodone, 5 mg po, resulted in pain relief among ED patients with acute fractures, and there was no difference between the two agents at 30 and 60 minutes. Adverse effect profiles were similar, with the exception of a higher incidence of subsequent constipation with the use of hydrocodone. These results suggest that oxycodone and hydrocodone have similarly potent analgesic effects in the first hour of treatment for ED patients with acute fractures.

Topics: Adult; Analgesics, Opioid; Double-Blind Method; Female; Fractures, Bone; Humans; Hydrocodone; Male; Middle Aged; Oxycodone; Pain; Pain Measurement; Prospective Studies

Opioid pain reliever prescribing at emergency department (ED) discharge has increased in the past decade but specific prescription details are lacking. Previous ED opioid pain reliever prescribing estimates relied on national survey extrapolation or prescription databases. The main goal of this study is to use a research consortium to analyze the characteristics of patients and opioid prescriptions, using a national sample of ED patients. We also aim to examine the indications for opioid pain reliever prescribing, characteristics of opioids prescribed both in the ED and at discharge, and characteristics of patients who received opioid pain relievers compared with those who did not.. This observational, multicenter, retrospective, cohort study assessed opioid pain reliever prescribing to consecutive patients presenting to the consortium EDs during 1 week in October 2012. The consortium study sites consisted of 19 EDs representing 1.4 million annual visits, varied geographically, and were predominantly academic centers. Medical records of all patients aged 18 to 90 years and discharged with an opioid pain reliever (excluding tramadol) were individually abstracted by standardized chart review by investigators for detailed analysis. Descriptive statistics were generated.. During the study week, 27,516 patient visits were evaluated in the consortium EDs; 19,321 patients (70.2%) were discharged and 3,284 (11.9% of all patients and 17.0% of discharged patients) received an opioid pain reliever prescription. For patients prescribed an opioid pain reliever, mean age was 41 years (SD 14 years) and 1,694 (51.6%) were women. Mean initial pain score was 7.7 (SD 2.4). The most common diagnoses associated with opioid pain reliever prescribing were back pain (10.2%), abdominal pain (10.1%), and extremity fracture (7.1%) or sprain (6.5%). The most common opioid pain relievers prescribed were oxycodone (52.3%), hydrocodone (40.9%), and codeine (4.8%). Greater than 99% of pain relievers were immediate release and 90.0% were combination preparations, and the mean and median number of pills was 16.6 (SD 7.6) and 15 (interquartile range 12 to 20), respectively.. In a study of ED patients treated during a single week across the country, 17% of discharged patients were prescribed opioid pain relievers. The majority of the prescriptions had small pill counts and almost exclusively immediate-release formulations.

Topics: Abdominal Pain; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analgesics, Opioid; Back Pain; Codeine; Cross-Sectional Studies; Emergency Service, Hospital; Female; Fractures, Bone; Humans; Hydrocodone; Male; Middle Aged; Oxycodone; Practice Patterns, Physicians'; Retrospective Studies; United States; Young Adult

Severe nonmalignant pain affects a large proportion of adults. Optimal treatment is not clear, and opioids are an important option for analgesia. However, there is relatively little information about the comparative safety of opioids. Therefore, we sought to compare the safety of opioids commonly used for nonmalignant pain.. We devised a propensity-matched cohort analysis that used health care utilization data collected from January 1, 1996, through December 31, 2005. Study participants were Medicare beneficiaries from 2 US states who were new initiators of opioid therapy for nonmalignant pain, including codeine phosphate, hydrocodone bitartrate, oxycodone hydrochloride, propoxyphene hydrochloride, and tramadol hydrochloride; none had a cancer diagnosis, and none were using hospice or nursing home care. Our main outcome measures were incidence rates and rate ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for cardiovascular events, fractures, gastrointestinal events, and several composite end points.. We matched 6275 subjects in each of the 5 opioid groups. The groups were well matched on baseline characteristics. The risk of cardiovascular events was similar across opioid groups 30 days after the start of opioid therapy, but it was elevated for codeine (RR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.27-2.06) after 180 days. Compared with hydrocodone, after 30 days of opioid exposure the risk of fracture was significantly reduced for tramadol (RR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.16-0.28) and propoxyphene (0.54; 0.44-0.66) users. The risk of gastrointestinal safety events did not differ across opioid groups. All-cause mortality was elevated after 30 days for oxycodone (RR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.47-4.00) and codeine (2.05; 1.22-3.45) users compared with hydrocodone users.. The rates of safety events among older adults using opioids for nonmalignant pain vary significantly by agent. Causal inference requires experimental designs, but these results should prompt caution and further study.

Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analgesics, Opioid; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Cardiovascular Diseases; Codeine; Cohort Studies; Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; Dextropropoxyphene; Female; Fractures, Bone; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage; Hospitalization; Humans; Hydrocodone; Incidence; Male; Medicare; Odds Ratio; Oxycodone; Pain; Pain Measurement; Tramadol; United States