Long-term Opioids Linked to Hypogonadism and the Role of Testosterone Supplementation Therapy

Opioids play a pivotal role in managing chronic pain with increasing prescription rates over the last few years. Hence, it is crucial to focus on the adverse effects of narcotics, and one of the lesser-known side effects is hypogonadism. Opioids act on the hypothalamus, pituitary, and directly on the gonads affecting serum testosterone levels. Narcotic-induced androgen insufficiency contributes to sexual dysfunction, infertility, hyperalgesia, and involving various body functions overall, affecting the quality of life. Opioid-induced hypogonadism is very challenging to diagnose for the clinicians, as the patients often under-report the symptoms. There are no established guidelines to analyze androgen insufficiency and dealing with their manifestations successfully. We did a substantial search in PubMed and Google Scholar, using various combinations of keywords to collect data to evaluate the impacts of opioids on serum testosterone levels. This study aims to highlight the clinical significance of opioid-induced androgen deficiency and the diagnostic techniques to recognize and credible treatment alternatives, including testosterone replacement therapy. Health care providers should screen the patients routinely for the signs and symptoms and monitor them often for the hormonal changes to select the patients cautiously for testosterone replacement therapy.