After being discharged from the hospital, opioids are major source of pain relief for patients. Previous studies show that 71% of patients prescribed opioid medications after thoracic surgery admitted to taking half or less of their prescribed opioid medications. The analysis showed a correlation between the amount of opioids consumed during the patient hospitalization and after discharge. Goesling et al. surveyed patients with or without previous history of opioid use who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or total hip arthroplasty (THA). Both groups were followed for 6 months to document the "natural history" of opioid use postoperatively and post discharge. For patients with preoperative opioid use undergoing TKA, 88.5% were shown to be using opioids after 1 month, 48.2% after 3 months and 53.5% after 6 months. For patients considered opioid naïve undergoing TKA, 66.5% were shown to be using opioids after 1 month, 16.6% after 3 months and 8.2% after 6 months. For patients with preoperative opioid use undergoing THA, 63.9% were shown to be using opioids after 1 month, 37.8% after 3 months and 34.7% after 6 months. For patients considered opioid naïve undergoing THA, 22.5% were shown to be using opioids after 1 month, 4.4% after 3 months and 4.3% after 6 months.