Opioid Use

Aim 1- To identify relationships between sex hormone levels and postoperative pain and opioid use. Aim 2: To determine whether the effects of testosterone on postoperative pain and opioid use are mediated by immune factors

There is an increased risk for sleep disordered breathing (SDB), sleep-related hypoventilation and irregular breathing in individuals on chronic prescription opioid medications. Almost 30% of a veteran sleep clinic population had opioid-associated central sleep apnea (CSA). The proposal aims to identity whether oxygen and acetazolamide can be effective in reducing unstable breathing and eliminating sleep apnea in chronic opioid use via different mechanisms. We will study additional clinical parameters like quality of life, sleep and pain in patients with and without opioid use. This proposal will enhance the investigators' understanding of the pathways that contribute to the development of sleep apnea with opioid use. The investigators expect that the results obtained from this study will positively impact the health of Veterans by identifying new treatment modalities for sleep apnea.

This prospective, randomized, assessor-blinded study will compare serratus posterior superior intercostal plane block and erector spinae plane block in adult female patients undergoing unilateral breast surgery. The primary outcome is chronic postoperative pain at 3 months, assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form.

The sequential trial compares recovery and mHealth engagement outcomes among Black participants who participated in the mHealth intervention uMAT-R or uMAT-R + enhanced community engagement. The mHealth intervention seeks to support people in various stages of recovery who are also seeking other forms of substance use treatment. Participants are recruited from community-based substance use treatment facilities and recovery services. Participants must be adults who have or are currently using opioids and/or stimulants.

This prospective, randomized, assessor-blinded trial compares serratus posterior superior intercostal plane block (SPSIPB) and erector spinae plane block (ESPB) for postoperative analgesia in unilateral breast surgery. 54 patients will be randomized to receive either SPSIPB or ESPB before general anesthesia. The primary outcome is postoperative pain scores within the first 24 hours. The secondary outcome is opioid consumption.

The goal of this treatment development project is to develop and pilot an adaptive mobile health (mHealth) intervention that targets the co-use of alcohol and opioids in young adults.

The goal of this cluster randomized clinical trial is to test a clinician-targeted behavioral nudge intervention in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) for patients who are identified by a machine-learning based risk prediction model as having an elevated risk for an opioid overdose. The clinical trial will evaluate the effectiveness of providing a flag in the EHR to identify individuals at elevated risk with and without behavioral nudges/best practice alerts (BPAs) as compared to usual care by primary care clinicians. The primary goals of the study are to improve opioid prescribing safety and reduce overdose risk.

Open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) repair is a high-risk surgical procedure accompanied by intense endocrine and metabolic responses to surgical stress, with subsequent activation of the inflammatory cascade, cytokine and acute-phase protein release, and bone marrow activation. There is a proven correlation of surgical stress, which patients undergoing open AAA repair are subjected to, with patient outcome, morbidity/mortality, intensive care unit stay and overall length of stay. Modern general anesthetic techniques have been revised and rely on perioperative multimodal anesthetic and analgesic strategies for improved overall patient outcome. Based on this context of a multimodal anesthetic technique and having taken into consideration the international "opioid-crisis" epidemic, an Opioid Free Anesthesia-Analgesia (OFA-A) strategy started to emerge. It is based on the administration of a variety of anesthetic/analgesic agents with different mechanisms of action, including immunomodulating and anti-inflammatory effects. Our basic hypothesis is that the implementation of a perioperative multimodal OFA-A strategy, involving the administration of pregabalin, ketamine, dexmedetomidine, lidocaine, dexamethasone, dexketoprofen, paracetamol and magnesium sulphate, will lead to attenuation of surgical stress response compared to a conventional Opioid-Based Anesthesia-Analgesia (OBA-A) strategy. Furthermore, the anticipated attenuation of the inflammatory response, is pressumed to be associated with equal or improved analgesia, compared to a perioperative OBA-A technique.

This study will help determine the feasibility and acceptability of a brief opioid-informed alcohol intervention in patients receiving prescribed buprenorphine for opioid use who are currently drinking alcohol. It will also provide initial information on whether the intervention improves outcomes related to alcohol use. The results of this proof-of-concept study will inform whether a future larger clinical trial is warranted.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the erector spinae block can reduce the incidence of chronic pain compared to the paravertebral block in adult patients undergoing total mastectomy. The study includes patients aged 18 to 80 years scheduled for mastectomy, with or without axillary dissection. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does erector spinae block reduce the incidence of chronic pain at 3 months after mastectomy compared to paravertebral block? * Does erector spinae block affect postoperative outcomes such as opioid consumption at 48 hours, pain scores (in PACU, 24 and 48 hours), block performance time, and the incidence of complications, anxiety or depression, and pain intensity at 3 months? Researchers will compare patients receiving erector spinae block to those receiving paravertebral block to determine if erector spinae block provides equivalent or improved outcomes in terms of chronic pain and perioperative measures. Participants will: * Be randomly assigned to receive either erector spinae block or paravertebral block prior to surgery * Undergo total mastectomy (with or without axillary dissection) * Have their pain assessed in the PACU and at 24 and 48 hours postoperatively * Have opioid consumption measured during the first 48 hours after surgery * Be followed up at 3 months to assess chronic pain, pain intensity, and psychological outcomes (anxiety or depression)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate patient-reported post-operative pain scores following minimally invasive tubal sterilization procedures to determine if a multimodal, non-opioid pain control regimen is non-inferior to a pain control regimen including opioids. The study team hypothesizes that with extensive counseling on pain management, multimodal medication use, and expectation with non-opioid methods can effectively eliminate the need for opioid prescriptions after laparoscopic salpingectomy.

The purpose of this study is to compare activity in the brains of female adults with chronic pain and/or opioid use, and healthy female adults that may help to develop new and targeted treatments for adults with chronic pain and alternatives to opioid therapy.

The goal of this observational study is to learn about how regional anesthesia (numbing medication) affects pain in patients with different psychosocial phenotypes such as different levels of concern about pain, sleep issues, and anxiety, who are having surgery. The main questions are: 1. Do psychosocial factors such as concerns about pain, sleep, anxiety affect the effectiveness of regional anesthesia? 2. Do psychosocial factors and regional anesthesia affect the amount of opioids used after surgery? 3. Do psychosocial factors and regional anesthesia affect development of chronic postsurgical pain?

Transversus abdominis plane block is a regional anesthetic technique which blocks the abdominal neural afferents by introducing local anesthetic into the neuro-fascial plane between the internal oblique and the transversus abdominis muscle and gives analgesia from the skin to parietal peritoneum. There are studies showing evidence of improved post operative analgesia with addition of adjuvants such as dexmedetomidine or dexamethasone in comparison with plane local anesthesia in terms of time to rescue analgesia and the overall quantity of analgesic used post operatively.

The study is a quasi-experimental investigation of a sub-acute stabilization center (SASC) for people who have had or are at risk for having an opioid overdose and have an encounter with Seattle Fire Department emergency medical services (EMS) in Seattle, WA. Those transported to the SASC are the intervention participants and two comparison groups will be utilized: eligible Seattle EMS patients who opt not to go to the SASC and King County residents, outside of Seattle, who meet the same eligibility criteria. A comparative interrupted time series analysis is planned to study the main effectiveness outcomes. Seattle Fire EMS will assess, refer, and arrange transport for participants to the SASC. The SASC will offer an array of services including post-overdose monitoring, utilization of buprenorphine and methadone for the treatment opioid use disorder and opioid withdrawal, linkage to ongoing care for OUD, and provision of harm reduction services and supplies. The length of stay in the SASC will be limited to less than 24 hours. A continuous process improvement (CPI) approach will monitor and refine the intervention. Characterization of the interventions will be based upon analysis of service utilization patterns over time along with interviews and surveys with stakeholders.

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the effects of Opioid Free Anesthesia (OFA) with and without volatile anesthetics (in this case desflurane) in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. The main question it aims to answer : -Will there be a difference in the perioperative stress between patients receiving OFA with and without desflurane? Participants will undergoing sleeve gastrectomy or gastric by pass, will be administered OFA with and without desflurane and blood tests (cortisole, ACTH,dopamine, PRL, adrenaline, noradrenaline, lactate) will be collected perioperatively to compare stress in the two groups.

The purpose of this study is to 1) examine barriers and facilitators to implementation of MI and MORE for polysubstance use and evaluate strategies for optimizing training, fidelity, and clinic uptake, and 2) evaluate patient outcomes related to the effectiveness of MORE decreasing opioid, tobacco, and other drug use.

Patients with chronic pain are often prescribed long-term opioid therapy, despite the serious risks and growing concerns related to opioid use. The Toronto General Hospital has created the world's first multidisciplinary perioperative Transitional Pain Service Program (TPSP) aimed at reducing the incidence and severity of chronic post-surgical pain. The TPSP incorporates a variety of mechanisms and interventions to help patients manage pain and to wean off opioids. The approach consists of: pain education, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and an e-mobile self- management tool to help patients manage chronic pain more effectively. With the TPSP team, the investigators hope to continually assist patients to achieve a balance between the benefits and potential harms of opioid use to promote long-term health and well-being.

This study seeks to evaluate the impact of intra-operative topical epidural steroid usage in patients undergoing 1-2 level lumbar laminectomy. The study will examine post-operative opioid usage, length of stay, return to work, and patient reported outcomes following these procedures.

The goal of this study is to test two behavioral interventions for chronic insomnia in individuals with chronic pain and use prescribed opioid medication to treat their chronic pain.

Nationally, the opioid crisis has become a major epidemic with increasing mortality rates each year. Orthopedic surgeons routinely prescribe narcotics instead of NSAIDs for post-op pain control because of risk of delayed healing and nonunion due to NSAID use. Orthopedic oncology, however, has a unique subset of patients that undergo prophylactic placement of intramedullary femoral nails. Because no fracture is present, these patients do not rely on inflammatory healing factors, allowing for post-op NSAID use. This study sets out to determine the effect of post-op toradol use in addition to opioids compared to solely opioids in patients undergoing prophylactic nailing of the femur.

The aim of this trial is to evaluate whether testosterone replacement results in greater improvement in pain perception, pain tolerance, sexual function, fatigue, and quality of life when compared with placebo in men with chronic spinal pain treated with opioids who have opioid-induced hypogonadism (low testosterone).

The purpose of this collaborative CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Award) application is to develop an innovative perioperative precision analgesia platform (PPAP) to improve analgesia and reduce serious immediate and long-term adverse outcomes of perioperative opioids in breastfeeding mothers and their infants

An open reduction and internal fixation is a painful procedure requiring intensive postoperative pain management. Traditionally, opioid analgesia has been the gold standard for postoperative pain control. However, given the harmful side effect profile and opioid epidemic in the United States, it is advantageous to use alternate forms of analgesia. Multimodal pain control captures the effectiveness of different analgesic modalities and maximizes analgesia while minimizing side effects. The theory behind their use is that agents with different mechanisms of action work synergistically in preventing acute pain. Objective: To measure postoperative pain control in patients in two treatment arms of ORIF of the clavicle: a treatment group given a nonopioid pain control regimen, and a standard of care control group given standard opioid pain control regimen. Study Design: A randomized single blinded standard of care controlled clinical trial comparing pain management interventions. All adult patients scheduled for an ORIF following a traumatic fracture by fellowship trained Trauma surgeons will be eligible for inclusion. Patients will be excluded if their medical history presents known allergies or intolerance to Motrin, Lyrica, Tylenol, Zanaflex, substantial alcohol or drug abuse, and pregnancy, history of narcotics within 6 months of surgery, renal impairment, peptic ulcer disease, GI bleeding. On the day of surgery, patients will be randomized to receive a nonopioid pain control regimen or an opioid regimen using a computer-generated sequence. If pain is uncontrolled, patients will also be sent home with a prescription with 10 pills of 5 mg of Oxycodone for breakthrough pain. The amount of oxycodone taken will be recorded. Patients can call the resident on call, available 24-hours per day, if additional pain control is needed. Treatment: All patients will undergo previously scheduled ORIF of the clavicle in standard fashion and be randomized to the non-narcotic pain regimen vs the narcotic pain regimen.

Breaking a bone is not only physically painful but also emotionally overwhelming. Patients often experience intense pain, anxiety, and uncertainty as they are rushed to hospital, undergo emergency treatment, and prepare for surgery. After surgery, many continue to struggle with pain and rely on opioid medications, which carry serious risks including addiction. In the context of our current opioid epidemic, it's critical that alternative treatment strategies are urgently evaluated. Mindfulness is a practice that helps people focus on the present and has been shown to reduce stress and pain in other settings. In this trial, patients with broken arms or legs who need surgery at Hamilton General Hospital will be randomly assigned to one of two groups who will listen to a two-part, audio recording before and after surgery. Those in the interventional group will engage in a 7-minute audio-guided mindfulness exercise before surgery to help reduce anxiety, and another 7-minute audio-guided mindfulness exercise after surgery to help manage pain. Those in the control group will listen to a 7-minute educational audio recording before surgery and again after surgery. The main goal is to see if this approach is practical-can enough patients be recruited, and will they complete the audio recordings? The study will also look at early signs of whether the intervention helps reduce pain, anxiety, and opioid use six weeks after surgery. If feasible, a larger study can be conducted to determine if these exercises can help patients manage pain and reduce their need for opioids after surgery. If successful, this simple, low-cost approach could be widely used in hospitals to support recovery and reduce reliance on pain medications.