Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41852109›Full record

ArticleAnaesthesia2026

Effects of anaesthesia type on development of persistent postoperative opioid utilisation: a South Korean nationwide cohort study.

Jonghae Kim, Sang Gyu Kwak, Eugene Kim, Hyung-Chul Lee, Hyun-Lim Yang, Yun Jin Kim, Ji-Yoon Kim, Jeong Min Sung, Soo Min Lee

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Anaesthesia, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jonghae KimDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Daegu Catholic University School of Medicine, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center, Daegu, South Korea.ORCID 0000-0003-1222-0054
Sang Gyu KwakDepartment of Medical Statistics, Daegu Catholic University School of Medicine, Daegu, South Korea.
Eugene KimDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Hanyang University Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.ORCID 0000-0002-1926-4191
Hyung-Chul LeeDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
Hyun-Lim YangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea.
Yun Jin KimBiostatistical Consulting and Research Lab, Medical Research Collaborating Center, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea.
Ji-Yoon KimDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Hanyang University Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.ORCID 0000-0001-7676-0346
Jeong Min SungDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Hanyang University Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.ORCID 0000-0003-0641-1145
Soo Min LeeDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Hanyang University Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.

Funding

National Research Foundation of Korea 2022R1F1A1066482
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionPrevious studies comparing the effects of general and regional anaesthesia on postoperative opioid use have focused primarily on the immediate postoperative period, with limited investigations into long-term outcomes.

methodsThis retrospective cohort study included 558,944 patients aged ≥ 18 y who underwent one of nine surgical procedures (thoracotomy; total hip arthroplasty; total knee arthroplasty; shoulder arthroplasty; transurethral resection of the prostate; inguinal hernia repair; knee arthroscopy; varicose vein surgery; and caesarean section) that required regional anaesthesia, general anaesthesia or combined general/regional anaesthesia. The primary outcome was the incidence of persistent postoperative opioid utilisation, which was defined as having filled ≥ 10 prescriptions or a supply of > 120 days between postoperative days 91 and 365. Age, sex, medical comorbidities, pre-operative medications and surgery type were balanced among regional anaesthesia, general anaesthesia and combined general/regional anaesthesia using pairwise propensity score matching.

resultsGeneral anaesthesia had significantly higher odds than regional anaesthesia for the development of persistent postoperative opioid utilisation (odds ratio 2.13, 95%CI 1.50-3.01, p < 0.001). The odds ratio of general anaesthesia vs. combined general/regional anaesthesia was significant in patients undergoing thoracotomy (odds ratio 1.47, 95%CI 1.25-1.74, p < 0.001). In the overall population, the regional anaesthesia group consumed fewer opioids than the other groups. Among the patients undergoing thoracotomy, the combined general/regional anaesthesia group consumed fewer opioids than the general anaesthesia group. DISCUSSION: This study found that regional anaesthesia was associated with a reduction in persistent postoperative opioid utilisation, particularly in patients undergoing thoracotomy.

Indexed as

Analgesics, OpioidAnesthesia, ConductionAnesthesia, GeneralPostoperative PainAdultAgedCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRepublic of KoreaRetrospective StudiesAnalgesics, Opioidchronic opioid usemorphinepostoperative opioid usepropensity score matchingregional anaesthesia

Identifiers

PMID41852109
PMCPMC13352562

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.