Reducing Opioid Use for Chronic Pain Patients Following Surgery (RECOUP)

April 24, 2026 updated by: University Health Network, Toronto

Ontario Transitional Pain and Opioid Safety Program: Improving Pain and Opioid Practices for Complex Chronic Pain Patients Following Surgery

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.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The proposed research program encompasses several study designs to evaluate the effectiveness and potential implementation of the TPSP across Ontario. The investigators will use three approaches to create a comprehensive evidence-base that can be used to guide future policy and programs related to the management of surgical patients with complex pain and chronic opioid use. In the first phase, a multicenter randomized controlled trial will be conducted in 6 hospital sites to evaluate the effectiveness and potential implementation of TPSP across Ontario. The aim is to recruit a total of 210 patients who are currently taking opioids and also undergoing a surgical intervention. The randomized controlled trial will determine the effectiveness of the TPSP at weaning patients completely off opioids while still managing pain after one year. Secondly, an economic and healthcare utilization analysis of the program via linkage to provincial administrative databases will be carried out to understand the impact the TPSP program has on the healthcare system as a whole. Lastly, a qualitative study will be conducted on both the treatment and control groups. The investigators hope to capture further insight to understand patients and providers experiences of the TPSP intervention.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
210

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2N2
        • Recruiting
        • Toronto General Hospital- University Health Network
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Elaheh Adly, MD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Ramesh Zacharias, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Anton Marinov, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Paul Tumber, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Melanie Toman, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Yuvaraj Kotteeswaran, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Duminda Wijeysundera, MD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • ≥ 18 years of age
  • Taking 10 -- 400 mg of preoperative oral morphine equivalents daily
  • Any type of surgical procedure, with the exception of those with palliative intent or organ transplantation
  • Able to read and understand English as posed on the questionnaire surveys prior to informed consent
  • Must be taking opioids for at least one month prior to their operation
  • Must have a personal email address for the set-up of the Manage My Pain (MMP) App or online multimedia tool

Exclusion Criteria:

• Subjects who are undergoing palliative care or procedures, organ transplantation, or prescribed with Methadone/Buprenorphine will be excluded from the trial

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Control Group
Patients in the control group will receive standard care, which involves standard postoperative follow-up with their surgeon/primary care provider. Patients will also be sent with a link for an online multimedia tool during each follow-up time point that will provide information and education regarding non-pharmacologic techniques for managing pain. At the end, all patients in the control arm will be invited to join the TPSP after one year of follow-up if they are still taking opioids.
Other: Control Intervention
Patients in the control group will receive standard care, which involves standard postoperative follow-up with their surgeon/primary care provider. Patients will also be sent with a link for an online multimedia tool during each follow-up time point that will provide information and education regarding non-pharmacologic techniques for managing pain. At the end, all patients in the control arm will be invited to join the TPSP after one year of follow-up if they are still taking opioids.
Experimental: Interventional Group
Patients in the interventional group will be given a Transitional Pain Service follow-up appointment at the following postoperative time points (2 to 6 visits for the first two months, and then 1 to 2 visits on a monthly basis until one year). At each visit, patients will meet with the clinical psychologist and chronic pain specialist. Patients in the intervention group will have access to the Manage My Pain (MMP) App. which allows people living with pain to quickly and easily track their pain and function on a daily basis on their smartphones or a browser on their desktop or mobile device. One-page clinical reports will capture the changes in patients' outcome data between clinical visits over the course in time.Clinic visits can be offered in person at the hospital or over telehealth (video conference) based on the patient's preference and clinician's judgment for telehealth suitability.
Other: Interventional Group
The Transitional Pain Service Program enables targeted, mechanism-based, treatment innovations aimed at reducing the incidence and severity of chronic post-surgical pain, disability and enabling safe opioid prescribing/ weaning after major surgery. The investigator's TPSP intervention uses a variety of methods to support patients to manage pain and wean off opioids. This includes physician-guided opioid and non-opioid pharmacotherapy and tapering, and clinical psychology services specializing in pain education, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and e-mobile self-management tools.
Other Names:
  • Transitional Pain Service Program

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Portion of patients weaned off opioids
Time Frame: 1 year
Opioid weaning measured by number of patients successfully weaned off opioids comparing the intervention arm versus control arm
1 year
Pain interference
Time Frame: One year
Brief Pain Inventory Scale is a measure that assess the severity of pain and the impact of pain on daily functions. Measurement of this scale is rated on a 0-10 numerical-rating-scale ( 0= No Pain to 10= Pain as bad as you can imagine or 0= Does not interfere to 10= Completely interferes). The BPI assess pain at its worst, least, average, and now. Pain Severity Score is calculated by adding the scores for questions 2, 3, 4 and 5 and then dividing by 4. This gives a severity score out of 10. Pain Interference Score is calculated by adding the scores for questions 8a, b, c, d, e, f and g and then dividing by 7. This gives an interference score out of 10.
One year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University Health Network, Toronto

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Karim Ladha, MD, Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network
  • Principal Investigator: Hance Clarke, MD, PhD, Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network
  • Principal Investigator: Elaheh Adly, MD, Hamilton Health Sciences Centre
  • Principal Investigator: Paul Tumber, MD, University Health Network, Toronto
  • Principal Investigator: Anton Marinov, MD, Rouge Valley Medical Centre
  • Principal Investigator: Melanie Toman, MD, Thunder Bay Reginal Health Sciences Centre
  • Principal Investigator: Yuvaraj Kotteeswaran, MD, Thunder Bay Reginal Health Sciences Centre
  • Principal Investigator: Duminda Wijeysundera, MD, Unity Health Toronto

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 15, 2018

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 11, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 17, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 18, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 24, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 18-5207

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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