Patient Satisfaction With Pain Relief After Ambulatory Hand Surgery

NCT ID: NCT01588158

Last Updated: 2017-03-14

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: TERMINATED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE4
• Total Enrollment: 7 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2012-07-31
• Study Completion Date: 2016-01-31

Brief Summary

Adequate pain relief has been a priority of the Joint Commission and is featured on national inpatient surveys such as the H-CAHPS. When considering methods for improving satisfaction with pain relief in the United States, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on opioid pain medications. Some of this emphasis on opioid pain medication is driven by the pharmaceutical industry and by advocacy groups with ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

There is evidence that the "pain is the fifth vital sign" campaign of the Joint Commission led to an increased incidence of prescription of opioids, but there is less evidence of improved satisfaction with pain relief. There is some evidence of an increase in opioid-related adverse events. As the sales of opioids have tripled from 1999-2008, so has the number of deaths caused by opioid overdose; 14,800 in 2008. The number of visits to the Emergency Department for opioid overdose doubled between 2004 and 2008.

Patients in other countries take far less opioid pain medication and are equally satisfied with pain relief. For instance, Lindenhovius et al. found in a retrospective study that Dutch patients take a weak (Tramadol) or no opioid pain medication after ankle fracture surgery and have comparable or better satisfaction with pain relief than American patients, most of whom take oxycodone. That study was repeated prospectively (unpublished) and confirmed that Dutch patients do not feel their pain is undertreated. A study of morphine use after a femur fracture demonstrated that American patients used far more than Vietnamese patients (30 mg/kg versus 0.9 mg/kg), but were more dissatisfied with their pain relief. These sociological differences are striking and suggest strongly that personal factors may be the most important determinant of satisfaction with pain relief.

It is our impression that most American hand surgeons give patients a prescription for an opioid pain medication after carpal tunnel release, and that is certainly true in our practice. This seems to be based primarily on the outliers, and intended to avoid confrontation with patients that desire opioids; however, most patients take little or no narcotic pain medication, and many who do use the opioids complain of the side effects-nausea and pruritis in particular. It is therefore not clear whether routine opioids is the optimal pain management strategy after carpal tunnel release. In the study of Stahl et al. from Israel, patients were prescribed acetaminophen rather than opioids after carpal tunnel release and only 20 of 50 patients used acetaminophen; 30 patients did not use acetaminophen or other pain medication at all after the operation.

Our aim is to determine if there is a difference in satisfaction with pain relief between patients advised to take opioids compared to patients advised to use over the counter acetaminophen after carpal tunnel release under local anesthesia. A secondary aim is to determine if personal factors account for more of the variability in satisfaction with pain relief than opioid strategy.

Detailed Description

Aim:

The specific aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of Tylenol and Vicodin after carpal tunnel release.

Primary Study Question:

There is no difference in satisfaction with pain relief at the time of suture removal between those advised to use acetaminophen instead of opioids and those give standard advice and a standard prescription for opioids.

Secondary Study Questions/Null Hypotheses:

1. Psychological and demographic factors do not account for variation in satisfaction with pain relief.

2. Arm-specific disability does not correlate with use of opioid pain medication.

3. Overall pain during recovery does not correlate with use of opioid pain medication.

Adequate pain relief has been a priority of the Joint Commission and is featured on national inpatient surveys such as the H-CAHPS. When considering methods for improving satisfaction with pain relief in the United States, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on opioid pain medications. Some of this emphasis on opioid pain medication is driven by the pharmaceutical industry and by advocacy groups with ties to the pharmaceutical industry. For instance 88% of the income of the American Pain Foundation is from industry. It is a consistent finding that although opioid pain improves pain in comparison with placebo, there is no difference in disability or pain relief compared to NSAIDs.

There is evidence that the "pain is the fifth vital sign" campaign of the Joint Commission led to an increased incidence of prescription of opioids, but there is less evidence of improved satisfaction with pain relief. There is some evidence of an increase in opioid-related adverse events. As the sales of opioids have tripled from 1999-2008, so has the number of deaths caused by opioid overdose; 14,800 in 2008. The number of visits to the Emergency Department for opioid overdose doubled between 2004 and 2008.

Patients in other countries take far less opioid pain medication and are equally satisfied with pain relief. For instance, Lindenhovius et al. found in a retrospective study that Dutch patients take a weak (Tramadol) or no opioid pain medication after ankle fracture surgery and have comparable or better satisfaction with pain relief than American patients, most of whom take oxycodone. That study was repeated prospectively (unpublished) and confirmed that Dutch patients do not feel their pain is undertreated. A study of morphine use after a femur fracture demonstrated that American patients used far more than Vietnamese patients (30 mg/kg versus 0.9 mg/kg), but were more dissatisfied with their pain relief. These sociological differences are striking and suggest strongly that personal factors may be the most important determinant of satisfaction with pain relief.

It is our impression that most American hand surgeons give patients a prescription for an opioid pain medication after carpal tunnel release, and that is certainly true in our practice. This seems to be based primarily on the outliers, and intended to avoid confrontation with patients that desire opioids; however, most patients take little or no narcotic pain medication, and many who do use the opioids complain of the side effects-nausea and pruritis in particular. It is therefore not clear whether routine opioids is the optimal pain management strategy after carpal tunnel release. In the study of Stahl et al. from Israel, patients were prescribed acetaminophen rather than opioids after carpal tunnel release and only 20 of 50 patients used acetaminophen; 30 patients did not use acetaminophen or other pain medication at all after the operation.

Our aim is to determine if there is a difference in satisfaction with pain relief between patients advised to take opioids compared to patients advised to use over the counter acetaminophen after carpal tunnel release under local anesthesia. A secondary aim is to determine if personal factors account for more of the variability in satisfaction with pain relief than opioid strategy.

Conditions

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Vicodin 5/325 mg

Half of the patients will be randomized to Vicodin

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Acetaminophen

Intervention Type: DRUG

325 mg

Acetaminophen 325 mg

Half of the patients will be randomized to Acetaminophen

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Vicodin

Intervention Type: DRUG

Vicodin 5/325 mg

Interventions

Acetaminophen

325 mg

Intervention Type: DRUG

Vicodin

Vicodin 5/325 mg

Intervention Type: DRUG

Other Intervention Names

Tylenol; Hydrocodon/Acetaminophen

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 18 years or older.
• All subjects will be competent adults able to consent on their own behalf for surgery and care.
• Inclusion prior to surgery
• Carpal tunnel release

Exclusion Criteria

• Pregnant women. Patients will be queried with the routine preoperative medical history and an inclusion/exclusion checklist.
• Patients unable to give informed consent
• Non English-speaking subjects
• Patients with hypersensitivity to acetaminophen or hydrocodone
• Patients with chronic alcohol abuse
• Patients with hypothyroidism
• Patients with Addison's disease
• Patients with prostatic hypertrophy or urethral stricture
• Patients using any of the following medications:

MAO or tricyclic antidepressants Antihistaminics Antipsychotic or anti-anxiety medications Phenothiazines Zidovudin Phenobarbital

• Patients who are taking opioid pain medication for another reason prior to surgery.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Massachusetts General Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

David C. Ring, MD

Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

David C Ring, MD PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Massachusetts General Hospital

Locations

Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

2011P001670

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id