Clement KC, et al. - Via evaluating insurance claim data from privately insured opioid-naïve patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) from 2014 to 2016, researchers determined the amount of outpatient opioids prescribed to patients after CABG. In addition, they investigated the incidence and risk factors for new persistent opioid use after CABG. The claim data yielded data of 7,292 opioid-naïve patients undergoing CABG. Of these, 5,628 (77.2%) received opioid prescriptions in the perioperative period, and 590 (8.1%) had new persistent opioid use. This indicates surprisingly common new persistent opioid use after CABG. New persistent opioid use was observed in independent correlation with female gender (OR 1.30, CI 1.05-1.61), anxiety (OR 1.40, CI 1.09-1.81), tobacco use (OR 1.34, CI 1.08-1.65), prior substance abuse (OR 1.99, CI 1.16-3.41, P = 0.013), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 1.29, CI 1.02-1.63), living in the Southern United States (OR 1.46, CI 1.21-1.77), and an increased amount of opioids prescribed in the perioperative period (OR 1.016, CI 1.014-1.018).