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Seed Grants - An Investigation into the Effectiveness of a New Transitional Pain Service (TPS) on Opioid Cessation After Broad Range of Surgeries Done at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and its Affiliated Hospitals
An Investigation into the Effectiveness of a New Transitional Pain Service (TPS) on Opioid Cessation After Broad Range of Surgeries Done at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and its Affiliated Hospitals
Primary Investigator: James Paul, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Start Date: 2019
Brief Overview and Progress to Date
Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) affiliated hospitals use the Transitional Pain Service (TPS) model. Collecting data from the Acute Pain Service (APS), TPS and chronic pain clinic, our retrospective study seeks to elucidate risk factors associated with the development of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) and long-term opioid use and evaluate the efficacy of TPS in reducing opioid use in the Hamilton-Niagara Region.
Very few studies have taken a comprehensive large-scale approach in assessing whether a TPS is more effective at getting patients off opioid analgesia (in comparison to patients in a control group with usual pain care), instead choosing to examine the incidence of and risk factors for developing CPSP. Results from our study will provide additional evidence for TPS as a standard of care for managing CPSP, decreasing opioid use and giving insight into the role of the pain clinician’s increasing role in the opioid crisis.
Implementation of a new hospital information system at HHS has resulted in logistical problems, requiring this project to be put on hold for the time being. Along with COVID-19, it has been difficult to implement a transitional pain tracking system at the pain clinic. We are making progress in reaching a solution. Dr. Madi Ali, who has been working with the TPS for the last five years, has agreed to work on this project in order to help track patients and collect study outcomes.
Transitional Pain Service physicians have more training and experience in managing patients with complex pain problems. Our research seeks to ensure that the care and followup provided by theTPS is effective at reducing the amount of opioids prescribed postoperatively and reducing the number of patients on long-term opioids.
