Optimization of Pre- and Post-Operative Pain Management

Abstract Despite joint replacement surgeries becoming an increasingly common surgical procedure uncontrolled post operative pain is a major cause of patient suffering and dissatisfaction and leads to chronic pain Development of chronic post surgical pain often treated with opioids is frequent and recognized as a major clinical problem Persistent opioid use due to uncontrolled chronic pain is associated with increased morbidity mortality disability and social costs Notably patients on long acting opioids are more likely to incur higher healthcare costs and utilization during the month period following surgery compared with patients who did not receive long acting opioids Despite the relatively large number of patients being treated with opioids for postoperative pain there is a dearth of resources to help patients cope and manage their pain The goal of this proposal is to develop an intervention to improve safety and outcomes of pain management for individuals undergoing joint replacement surgery by facilitating timely and appropriate use of pain self management The objective of this Phase proposal is to develop a mobile app based patient education and training intervention designed specifically to improve patient understanding of pain and self management during the post operative recovery for individuals undergoing joint arthroplasty We will accomplish this by conducting focus groups to describe the key pain management and opioid concerns of pre and post surgical patients for hip or knee arthroplasty use focus group findings to inform development of a mobile app based education module to provide support for pain and self management principles during the duration of the perioperative process and perform usability testing of the Perioperative Pain Management Education mobile app and its integration into the care of patients prior to and following joint arthroplasty The proposed project is innovative because it uses a new approach to improve pain management that incorporates the use of low cost commercially available technology to deliver an educational self management intervention to patients Project Narrative Given the significance of the problems and challenges in the joint arthroplasty patient population and the imperative to improve safety and outcomes of pain management the current study aims to facilitate timely access to training and resources on the appropriate use of pain self management The Perioperative Pain Management Education mobile app is designed to facilitate timely access to training and resources on the appropriate use of pain self management This product has high potential impact to prevent persistent pain long term opioid escalation and disability related to hip and knee surgery