High Opioid Prescription Rates Seen in Emergency Department-Treated Gout

Naomi Schlesinger, MD, chief of the Division of Rheumatology and connective tissue research at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, N.J., has also studied the diagnosis and treatment of acute gout at a university hospital emergency department. “In our 2015  study, we also found high levels of opioid use, with 52% [of gout patients] being given prescriptions for the medications,” she says.²

“Anti-inflammatory drugs  are the mainstay of treatment for gout flares, yet in the emergency department opiates are given by themselves or in combination with anti-inflammatory  drugs.”

She notes that although these results are interesting, the need for more studies involving different states exists. In addition, more research is needed to assess the use of opioids in the treatment of acute flares.

Kurt Ullman is a freelance writer based in Indiana.

References

1. Dalal DS, Mbuyi N, Shah I, et al. Prescription opioid use among acute gout patients discharged from the emergency department. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken).  2019 Jul 2. [Online ahead of print]
2. Schlesinger N, Radvanski DC, Young TC, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of acute gout at a university hospital emergency department. Open Rheumatol J. 2015  Jun 12;9:21–26.