Despite the presence and increased understanding of the opioid crisis in the United States, orthopedic surgeons frequently prescribe and over-prescribe narcotic pain medications during the postoperative period. In an effort to minimize narcotic analgesia and its potential side effects, opioid-free multimodal pathways have been developed in many orthopaedic sub-specialties with promising results. There have been early studies reporting the results of non-narcotic protocols during the intra-operative period. Likewise, there have been several studies reporting the results of inpatient non-narcotic pain protocols in select foot and ankle surgeries. However, there remains a lack of published literature evaluating opiate-free multimodal pain protocols for elective outpatient foot and ankle surgeries. Currently, our practice utilizes an opioid-free post-operative pain protocol for patients undergoing elective outpatient foot and ankle surgery. The goal of this study is to evaluate post-operative pain using this opioid-free multimodal pain protocol at days 1,3, and 8 following elective outpatient foot and ankle surgery.
Orthopedic surgeons frequently prescribe and over-prescribe narcotic pain medications during the postoperative period, despite the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States. While opioid-free multimodal pathways have shown promising results, there remains a lack of published literature evaluating opiate-free multimodal pain protocols for elective outpatient foot and ankle surgeries. This study aims to evaluate post-operative pain following the use of an opioid-free pain treatment plan for patients undergoing foot and ankle surgeries.