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Systemic Complications and Radiographic Findings of Opioid Use and Misuse: An Overview for Orthopedic Surgeons

  • OPIOID PRESCRIBING AND PAIN MANAGEMENT / REVIEW ARTICLE
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HSS Journal ®

Abstract

Amid growing concern about the misuse of prescribed opioids, the rising rates of opioid use disorder, and the use of illicit opioids, clinicians in ambulatory, inpatient, and operative environments are encountering opioid-related complications in their patients. These complications can affect multiple organ systems including cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and neurologic and are related to excess opioid levels in the body or contamination from non-sterile injection. It is important for the orthopedic surgeon to have a general understanding of the pathologies associated with opioid use disorder and their appearance on diagnostic imaging. This article reviews image findings of several complications, organized in a systems-based approach, for the orthopedic surgeon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th St, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Harry G. Greditzer IV MD

  2. UHealth Sports Medicine Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Dustin H. Massel MD, Carlos M. Barrera BS, Christopher P. Emerson MS & Jean Jose DO, MS

  3. Department of Radiology, Jackson Memorial Hospital, 1611 NW 12th St, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Nisreen S. Ezuddin MD & Jean Jose DO, MS

Authors
  1. Harry G. Greditzer IV MD
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  2. Dustin H. Massel MD
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  3. Carlos M. Barrera BS
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  4. Nisreen S. Ezuddin MD
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  5. Christopher P. Emerson MS
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  6. Jean Jose DO, MS
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher P. Emerson MS.

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Conflict of Interest

Harry G. Greditzer IV, MD, Dustin H. Massel, MD, Carlos M. Barrera, BS, Nisreen Ezuddin, BS, Christopher P. Emerson, MS, and Jean Jose, DO, MS, declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human/Animal Rights

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2013.

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Informed consent was waived from all patients for being included in this review.

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Greditzer, H.G., Massel, D.H., Barrera, C.M. et al. Systemic Complications and Radiographic Findings of Opioid Use and Misuse: An Overview for Orthopedic Surgeons. HSS Jrnl 15, 76–83 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-018-9649-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11420-018-9649-x

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