Prevalence of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder on the Rise in U.S. Adults Undergoing Surgery

THURSDAY, Jan. 15, 2026 (HealthDay News) — From 2016 to 2022, there was an increase in the prevalence of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in privately insured U.S. adults undergoing surgical procedures, according to a study published online Jan. 13 in Anesthesiology.

Mark C. Bicket, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, and colleagues analyzed adults aged 18 to 64 years undergoing one of 1,083 major surgical procedures from 2016 to 2022 from the Merative MarketScan Commercial Database. Using logistic regression models adjusting for patient demographics and comorbidities, annual changes in MOUD use from one to 180 days before surgery were assessed. The prevalence of MOUD use among all instances of the procedure during 2016 to 2022 was calculated for each procedure category.

Data were included from 8,137,973 surgical admissions for 5,013,213 adults (59.9 percent female). The researchers observed an increase in the adjusted prevalence of MOUD use, from 55.2 to 99.8 per 100,000 procedures from 2016 to 2022 (adjusted annual change, 16.9 per 100,000 procedures). The most common type of MOUD was buprenorphine among 15,701 surgical admissions for patients using MOUD during 2016 to 2022 (84.0 percent). The highest rates of MOUD use were seen for debridement, shoulder arthroplasty, lower-extremity amputation, and hip or pelvis open fracture repair (719.0, 579.4, 529.6, and 497.6 per 100,000 procedures, respectively).

“Our study shows that more people arriving for surgery are already receiving MOUD, while our surgical system has not fully appreciated or adapted to that reality,” Bicket said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Merck and disclosed providing expert medicolegal testimony.

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