Use of Tramadol or Other Analgesics in Patients Treated in the Emergency Department as a Risk Factor for Opioid Use

Table 1

Clinical characteristics related to the prescription of tramadol, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and dipyrone in 12,783 patients treated in the emergency departments of five clinics in Colombia, 2018-2019.

Characteristics	Total	Tramadol	NSAIDs	Dipyrone
	12783	n = 1454	n = 5309	n = 6020
Women	7872 (61.6%)	828 (56.9%)	3238 (61.0%)	3806 (63.2%)	<0.001
Age (years)	47.1 ± 20.4	53.1 ± 20.3	43.5 ± 19.5	48.8 ± 20.6	0.005
Mean doses ± SD (mg)		60.0 ± 29.7	Ds: 75.9 ± 10.1	1500 ± 1100
			Ac: 2689 ± 2339
Received opioid at follow-up	2207 (17.3%)	346 (23.8%)	778 (14.7%)	1083 (17.9%)	<0.001
Time to opioid in days		135.2 ± 114.7	143.1 ± 106.6	142.2 ± 110.3	<0.001
Range of time to receive opioid (days)	1–360	1–358	1–360	1–360

NSAIDs: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory; SD: standard deviation; Ds: diclofenac sodium; Ac: acetaminophen.