Are medical comorbidities contributing to the use of opioid analgesics in patients with knee osteoarthritis?

BackgroundAlthough opioid analgesics are not generally recommended for treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA), they are frequently used. We sought to determine the association between medical comorbidities and self-reported opioid analgesic use in these patients.MethodsThis cross-sectional study recruited patients referred to two provincial hip and knee clinics in Alberta, Canada for consideration of total knee arthroplasty. Standardized...