The Impact of Opioid-Related Disorder on Healthcare Resource Utilisation Following Distal Radius Fracture Repair Surgery
Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online · 11 Aug 2026
† Impact is the editorial-priority score. All scores are out of 100. Clinical is a stored clinical-importance score from the earlier method; it has not been recalculated.
Why it matters
Distal radius fracture is one of the most common orthopaedic procedures, so identifying patients with opioid-related disorder as a high-utilisation, high-risk subgroup could help hand surgeons target perioperative counselling and opioid stewardship.
The evidence
This retrospective TriNetX database study compared 789 propensity-matched adults with a prior diagnosis of opioid-related disorder (ORD) to 789 without it, all having undergone distal radius fracture repair. Within 90 days, ORD patients had significantly higher rates of ED visits (21.8% vs 11.2%), hospitalizations (13.6% vs 8.5%), and physical therapy evaluations (18.8% vs 12.0%), and they received more opioid prescriptions per patient (8.3 vs 4.7) between 30 days and 1 year postoperatively, with no significant difference in outpatient visits or antidepressant prescriptions.
90-day ED visit rate: Odds ratio 2.221 (95% CI 1.68 to 2.934; units not reported). Interpret in the study's stated comparison; this alone does not establish a treatment's causal effect.
Why this rigour score?
Registry cohort (adjusted)
Methods at a glance
Recorded assessment- Confounding adjustmentPropensity scores
- Covariate balance confirmedNot reported
- Outcome assessors blindedNot reported
- Comparable start of follow-upMet
- Adequate statistical powerNot reported
- Prospective registrationNot met
Not reported does not mean not done. Checks have different weights; this is not a count of boxes ticked.
How to read this assessment
The recorded methods are shown alongside the published score. A verified point-by-point calculation is not available for this version of the appraisal.
Checklist from the stored appraisal. “Not met” describes the recorded criterion; it does not always produce a deduction. This overview supports reading the full study.
For journal club
1.Should a documented history of opioid-related disorder prompt routine preoperative screening or a dedicated care pathway before distal radius fracture repair?
2.How might surgeons balance adequate postoperative pain control against opioid stewardship in patients with a known opioid-related disorder undergoing distal radius fracture repair?
Original publication title
The Impact of Opioid-Related Disorder on Healthcare Resource Utilization Following Distal Radius Fracture Repair Surgery