Gabapentinoids, gabapentin or pregabalin, added to opioids the day of surgery appeared to heighten the risk of opioid overdose and other adverse events, though absolute risks appeared to be low, reported an observational study.

In the study of nearly 5.5 million surgical admissions, including around 900,000 patients who received gabapentinoids with opioids, 441 overdose events were recorded. Absolute risk of overdose was 1.4 per 10,000 patients with gabapentinoid exposure and 0.7 per 10,000 patients with opioids only, reported researchers in JAMA Network Open. (Medpage Today)