Painkiller Use as Teen May Raise Addiction Risk
Study found those less experienced with illegal drugs were more likely to abuse narcotics later
"These findings suggest a currently unrecognized risk of narcotic prescribing," Miech said. "This risk should be incorporated into prescribing decisions and patient counseling."
However, the study did not prove that prescription narcotic painkiller use in adolescence causes adult addiction to narcotics.
Doctors and parents informed of these risks may opt for non-narcotic medications as the initial treatment for minor painful conditions, Miech said.
The report was published online Oct. 26 in the journal Pediatrics.
Dr. Craig Spurdle, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, said narcotic painkillers should only be used to treat serious pain from trauma, cancer or other surgery, and then only for a short time.
After major surgery, Spurdle prescribes a narcotic painkiller, but only for three to five days.
For other patients, for example, one who has chronic back pain, narcotics are not the best medicine, he said.
"If that patient is getting narcotics, I think that's a mistake," said Spurdle, who was not involved with the new research. "Those patients should be in physical therapy, a fitness program, a wellness program, and they should take non-narcotic pain medicines."
Giving narcotics to those patients is unnecessary and can cause unwanted side effects such as constipation, depression and lethargy, Spurdle said.
"There are very good solutions to some of these problems that are a lot healthier and have a lot better outcomes for the patient," he said. "In those patients, giving narcotics is really a path to the dark side."
Painkiller Use as Teen May Raise Addiction Risk
Study found those less experienced with illegal drugs were more likely to abuse narcotics later
"These findings suggest a currently unrecognized risk of narcotic prescribing," Miech said. "This risk should be incorporated into prescribing decisions and patient counseling."
However, the study did not prove that prescription narcotic painkiller use in adolescence causes adult addiction to narcotics.
Doctors and parents informed of these risks may opt for non-narcotic medications as the initial treatment for minor painful conditions, Miech said.
The report was published online Oct. 26 in the journal Pediatrics.
Dr. Craig Spurdle, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, said narcotic painkillers should only be used to treat serious pain from trauma, cancer or other surgery, and then only for a short time.
After major surgery, Spurdle prescribes a narcotic painkiller, but only for three to five days.
For other patients, for example, one who has chronic back pain, narcotics are not the best medicine, he said.
"If that patient is getting narcotics, I think that's a mistake," said Spurdle, who was not involved with the new research. "Those patients should be in physical therapy, a fitness program, a wellness program, and they should take non-narcotic pain medicines."
Giving narcotics to those patients is unnecessary and can cause unwanted side effects such as constipation, depression and lethargy, Spurdle said.
"There are very good solutions to some of these problems that are a lot healthier and have a lot better outcomes for the patient," he said. "In those patients, giving narcotics is really a path to the dark side."
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