OUAS- UCLH
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Opioid use after surgery in opioid-naive patients: a qualitative study
IRAS ID
317515
Contact name
Fausto Morell-Ducos
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 9 months, 17 days
Research summary
Opioids are often used after surgery because pain occurs commonly and not treating it can be unpleasant and can lead to delays in recovery or other complications. Some people can find it difficult to stop using opioids once they have started. This may be because they continue to experience pain, or because they have become dependent on these medications, for example. Some studies suggest opioids prescribed after surgery to opioid-naive patients may lead to some patients taking these medications long-term, when they would otherwise not have done so. This can represent a problem to their health as using opioids long term has been associated with many complications.
Our study aims to contact patients who had elective surgery at UCLH and who were given opioids to take home and who did not take opioids before their procedure. We will send information about our study by email to these patients 3 months after they were discharged to invite them to take part in our study.
Enrolled patients will take part in one telephone interview during which we will ask them to share their experience of taking these medications, how they used them, what effects they had on them, and for those patients who stopped taking them, how they went about doing this. For those patients who are still taking opioids three months after their procedure, there will be a separate interview during which we will explore their experience of pain, why they are continuing to take these medications, what support they have received, and any other concerns they may have.
The findings of this study will allow our team to make recommendations regarding the advice and follow-up given to patients discharged with opioids following surgery, and to inform the development of services to support patients reduce their opioids after surgery if they find this difficult.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
22/NI/0165
Date of REC Opinion
19 Dec 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion