Prospective Study of Opioid Prescribing Practices in Laparoscopic Gynecologic Surgery

The intent of this study is to validate the use of the Opioid Calculator, published at University of Michigan (www.opioidcalculator.org), which takes several variables into account, including age, risk factors (history of depression, alcohol abuse, others) to determine in a more scientific way the number of pills sufficient to prescribe. The sample size was determined by the number of routine post-op laparoscopic patients seen in our practice. The estimated necessary sample size is 6 participants per group (12 total). Patients will be randomized using 3 block groups of size 4 each. Patients will be approached at in clinic at the time they are consenting to laparoscopic hysterectomy and will be counseled about postoperative pain medication management. Randomization to either standard practice or calculator will be performed using computer-generated, permuted blocks of 4 participants. Sealed randomization envelopes will be opened for each subject on the day of surgery, after anesthesia is initiated. The study will be singled-blinded to the participant. Patients will be contacted on day 2 and day 7 to inquire where they are on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and how many pills they have taken. Two weeks after surgery patients will be seen in office for VAS and requested to bring unused pills for accounting purposes.