Preoperative Education in Hand and Wrist Surgery

The proposed research aims to study the impact of preoperative education on postoperative pain control after outpatient surgery for traumatic wrist fractures. The impact of preoperative education will be studied through patient questionnaires and by tracking postoperative opioid consumption as well as instances of unscheduled healthcare contact after surgery. The study will be a randomized controlled trial. This study imposes no more than minimal risk to study participants. Loss of privacy and breach of confidentiality are risks of this study. All data will be stored securely on Microsoft One Drive, a password-protected, encrypted database which requires two-factor authorization. The study population will be patients aged 18-99 years who are undergoing outpatient surgical management of distal radius fractures at Grady Memorial Hospital. No vulnerable populations will be included. Contact will be made with potential study participants at their preoperative clinic visit. Written informed consent will be obtained. Data will not be publicly available. Data will be deidentified, and no members of the team will have access to the code that identifies patients. Data will be collected in the plastic surgery clinic, orthopedic surgery clinic, and preoperative area at Grady Memorial Hospital. The total respondent burden will be 30 minutes.