Patient Education and Use of Post Operative Pain Medication in Ambulatory Hand Surgery: a Randomized Controlled Trial

There is a current opioid epidemic in the United States partially fueled by excess
prescribing practices after surgery. The objective of this study is to decrease the amount of
opioids needed after ambulatory hand surgery. In this randomized control trial, patients will
be randomized into a patient education group and into a control group. The education group
will be provided with a pre-operative video detailing proper indications for opioid use after
hand surgery, alternative pain management strategies to try before using prescription opioid
medications, and side effects associated with opioid use. Patients will also receive
information on the current opioid epidemic. Patients will be reminded of the information
given pre-operatively after surgery in the post-anesthesia care unit. The control group will
not receive pre-operative education and will only receive standard of care post-operative
counseling by nursing in the post-anesthesia care unit. All patients will be given a pain
log, pain medication diary and participate in phone/email surveys to determine number of
opioid pills taken, pain levels, and satisfaction with surgery. The investigators hypothesize
that the education group will have decreased opioid intake and increased patient satisfaction
compared to the control group.