Addressing National Opioid Prescribing Practices for Knee Osteoarthritis: An Analysis of an Estimated 41,389,332 Patients With Knee Arthritis.

Introduction: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic pathology that is treated across multiple specialties. Opioid prescribing practices for knee OA have not been described on a national level. The purpose of this study was to (1) investigate the trends in opioid prescriptions for knee OA, (2) characterize and identify predominant opioid based medications prescribed for knee OA, and (3) identify patient- and provider-related factors influencing opioid prescribing patterns in the treatment of knee OA in the outpatient setting.