Patient Satisfaction With Pain Relief After Ambulatory Hand Surgery

Satisfaction With Pain Relief After Carpal Tunnel Release Surgery

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 That study was repeated prospectively (unpublished) and confirmed that Dutch patients do not feel their pain is undertreated.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.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Acetaminophen; Drug: Vicodin

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.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 7
• Phase: Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114
      • Massachusetts General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

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 severe impairment of renal or hepatic function. This will be assessed in the routine preoperative medical history and review of the medical record. We will also ask the patients specific for this history in the screening for the study inclusion/exclusion criteria.
• 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.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Vicodin 5/325 mg; Half of the patients will be randomized to Vicodin	Drug: Acetaminophen; 325 mg; Other Names: Tylenol
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Acetaminophen 325 mg; Half of the patients will be randomized to Acetaminophen	Drug: Vicodin; Vicodin 5/325 mg; Other Names: Hydrocodon/Acetaminophen

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Satisfaction With Pain Relief	an 11-point ordinal scale to ask for the satisfaction of the patients with pain relief. The scale range is from 0-10, where 0 is complete dissatisfaction with pain relief and 10 is complete satisfaction.	at the follow-up, 2 weeks after the operation with suture removal

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
QuickDASH	The short form of the Disabilities of Arm Shoulder and Hand to assess upper extremity disability. The scale range is from 0-100, where 0 is no difficulty performing tasks and 100 is the most difficulty or unable to complete any tasks.	At enrollment prior to surgery
PSEQ	The pain self efficacy questionnaire measures a patient's belief about his/her ability to complete a task despite his/her pain. The scale range is from 0-60, where 60 represents higher self-efficacy beliefs.	1 day
PHQ-9	Patient Health Questionnaire-9 to assess symptoms of depression. The scale range is from 0-27, where 0 is no symptoms of depression and 27 is severe depression.	1 day
Pain Patients Expect After Surgery	an 11-point ordinal scale to assess the amount of pain the patients expect after surgery. The scale range is from 0-10, where 0 is no pain expected and 10 is the worst pain expected	1 day
Expectation of Pain Relief	An 11-point ordinal scale to assess the expectation of how well the pain medication will work after surgery. The scale range is from 0-10, where 0 is not effective at all and 10 is completely effective.	1 day
Pain Scale	11-point ordinal pain scale to assess the amount of pain. The scale range is from 0-10, where 0 is no pain at all and 10 is the worst pain ever had.	At enrollment prior to surgery
QuickDASH	The short form of the Disabilities of Arm Shoulder and Hand to assess upper extremity disability. The scale range is from 0-100, where 0 is no difficulty performing tasks and 100 is the most difficulty or unable to complete any tasks.	At the follow-up 2 weeks after the surgery with suture removal
Pain Scale	11-point ordinal pain scale to assess the amount of pain. The scale range is from 0-10, where 0 is no pain at all and 10 is the worst pain ever had.	At the follow-up 2 weeks after the surgery with suture removal

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: July 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): January 1, 2016
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): January 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 25, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 27, 2012
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): April 30, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): March 14, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 2, 2017
• Last Verified: February 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: pain; carpal tunnel syndrome; Tylenol; Vicodin
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Wounds and Injuries; Neuromuscular Diseases; Mononeuropathies; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases; Median Neuropathy; Nerve Compression Syndromes; Cumulative Trauma Disorders; Sprains and Strains; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Central Nervous System Depressants; Peripheral Nervous System Agents; Analgesics; Sensory System Agents; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Antirheumatic Agents; Antipyretics; Analgesics, Opioid; Narcotics; Respiratory System Agents; Antitussive Agents; Acetaminophen; Hydrocodone; Acetaminophen, hydrocodone drug combination
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2011P001670