Some women who are prescribed opioids and other drugs to ease pain after mastectomy and reconstructive surgery continue to use those medications, researchers reported.
In a large database analysis, new persistent use of opioids – defined as filling at least two prescriptions following surgery — was observed among 13.1% of the women who underwent the breast cancer surgery, said Jacob Cogan, MD, of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical School in New York City.