Providing Patients Realistic Expectations of Postoperative Pain

This is a prospective, randomized, single-blind study in 100 patients undergoing open
colorectal surgery. If the hypothesis is confirmed, then patients who receive perioperative
educational interventions to address their expectation about their postoperative pain will
have improved pain-related postoperative outcomes.

Randomization and Blinding 100 eligible patients scheduled to undergo open colorectal surgery
will be approached in the Center for Preoperative Assessment and Planning Clinic. At
enrollment, each patient will be assigned a study number, which will match a previously
prepared computer-generated list of randomization numbers to determine whether they will be
in the intervention or control arm. Pre-operatively, all patients will complete an initial
questionnaire. The patients in the intervention group (n=50) will, in addition to the
standard pre-operative assessment, also receive pre-operative educational instruction of what
to expect from a post-operative pain perspective including education material to take home.

For this study, deception will be used, with the reasoning that the patients' knowledge of
the different education materials will affect their rating of the impact of the intervention
on satisfaction scores.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Age > 18 years

- Undergoing open colorectal surgery Able to understand and sign and informed consent
form

Exclusion Criteria:

- Age < 18 years

- Unable to complete post-operative CMS questionnaire

- Inability to understand the English language Absolute contraindication to epidural
placement (patient refusal, requiring resumption of therapeutic anticoagulation after
surgery, anaphylaxis to local anesthetics, local or systemic infections, bleeding
diathesis)