The Effect of a Brief Pre-operative Pain Medication Educational Video on Post-operative Prescription Opioid Medication Use in Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery. A Randomized Controlled Trial

After consenting, meeting inclusion criteria, and enrollment, all participants will complete several standard self-report questionnaires related to medical history, social demographic, and psychosocial variables that are related to low back pain, and often used in clinics that manage patients with low back pain. They will then be randomized to either receive the education, or only usual care (which is the typical information the surgeon provides the patient verbally during the pre-operative appointment). All patients will receive the usual care education from their surgeon.

Education Group:

The educational video is a white board style patient-centric video. The content of the education focus on providing a historical perspective for opioid prescription from the time when the risk of dependence was highly underestimated. The video discusses the current evidence for the effect of opioid medications in non-cancer on-acute pain. It also discusses some of the dangers of long-term opioid usage.

All Subjects:

All subjects will receive the usual care education that is typically given by their surgeon. That will be left up to the discretion of each surgeon.