Narcotic Use After Minor Hand Surgery

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study evaluates the effect of larger or smaller opioid prescriptions following minor surgery on the amount of narcotic used, patient reported satisfaction, refill requests, and leftover narcotic.

Detailed Description
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Patients are randomized to receive prescriptions for either 10 or 30 tabs of 5 mg hydrocodone/325 mg acetaminophen following minor hand surgery. Patients are allowed to request additional medication as needed. Patients are contacted by phone 10-14 days after their surgery to answer a questionnaire regarding number of pills taken, number of refills requested, number of remaining pills, their satisfaction with their pain control and their surgery, and their opinion regarding the appropriateness of the prescription size.

Conditions
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Pain, Postoperative, Minor Surgical Procedures, Narcotics Use

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Initial prescription for 10 narcotic tabs
* Behavioral: Inital prescription for 30 narcotic tabs


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: patients undergoing minor hand surgery by a participating surgeon within the study period Exclusion Criteria: narcotic use within previous 3 months concurrent procedure acute trauma pregnancy allergy or other contraindication or intolerance to hydrocodone or acetaminophen post-operative complications inability to provide personal consent to the procedure or the research

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 70 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: 10 group<br>Initial prescription for 10 narcotic tabs | Behavioral: Initial prescription for 10 narcotic tabs<br>* Reduced number of pills in initial prescription post-operatively<br>|
| Active Comparator: 30 group<br>Initial prescription for 30 narcotic tabs | Behavioral: Inital prescription for 30 narcotic tabs<br> <br> |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Narcotic used | number of narcotic tabs taken by patient (5mg hydrocodone/325 mg acetaminophen) | 10-14 days post-op | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Number of refills requested | number of times patient requested additional pain medication | 10-14 days post-op | 
| Number of left over tabs | Number of left over usable narcotic tabs remaining in patient possession | 10-14 days post-op | 
| Patient reported efficacy of pain control |  | 10-14 days post-op | 
| Patient reported satisfaction with pain control |  | 10-14 days post-op | 
| Patient reported satisfaction with overall surgical experience |  | 10-14 days post-op | 
| Patient Opinion Regarding Appropriateness of Size of Initial Prescription |  | 10-14 days post-op |