10-year trends in benzodiazepine, opioid, and concurrent use in hip and knee arthroplasty: a nationwide cohort study from the Netherlands

Background and purpose: Concurrent benzodiazepine–opioid use is discouraged. We aimed to examine trajectories of benzodiazepine, opioid, and concurrent use following hip and knee arthroplasties for osteoarthritis (HA-OA, KA) and hip arthroplasty for fracture (HA-fracture).Methods: In this nationwide cohort study, the Dutch Arthroplasty Register (LROI) was linked to the Dutch Foundation for Pharmaceutical Statistics (SFK). We evaluated the proportion of patients with ≥ 1 medication dispensation in the year pre- and post-procedure and the prescribing physicians. Concurrent use was defined as ≥ 7 days overlap of benzodiazepine and opioid exposure.Results: We included 109,238 HA-OA, 17,464 HA fracture, and 113,306 KA. Between 2013 and 2021, the risk difference of postoperative benzodiazepine use was –7.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] –8.1 to –6.2%), while postoperative opioid use increased by 29.7% (CI 28.5–30.8%). Among HA-OA, from 2013 (4,391 arthroplasties) to 2021 (12,905 arthroplasties), the percentage of preoperative benzodiazepine users went from 18% to 13%, and postoperative from 23% to 14%. In contrast, preoperative opioid use changed from 25% to 33% and postoperative from 36% to 69%, In 2021, 6% of HA-OA, 11% of HA fracture, and 9% of KA received a concurrent dispensation in the first post-procedure year, predominantly in the first quarter. Orthopedic surgeons prescribed 29% (~18,732 prescriptions) of initial concurrent dispensations; subsequent prescriptions were mainly from general practitioners.Conclusion: From 2013–2022 in the Netherlands, benzodiazepine use decreased while opioid use increased among arthroplasty patients. Concurrent use remained frequent, despite safety recommendations against co-prescribing.