Patient Reported Outcomes, Postoperative Pain and Pain Relief After Day Case Surgery (POPPY)

Around 3 out of 4 operations in the UK are performed as day-case, meaning the patient goes home on the same day of their operation. Hospitals usually do not follow up patients after day-case operations so we do not know very much about their short or long-term recovery. Some patients, even those who have had small operations, can develop persistent pain afterwards that continues for a long time (months to years). These patients may end up taking strong painkillers for a long time and this risks serious side effects and long-term health problems. The POPPY study aims to find out what recovery from day-case operations is like from the patient's point of view. We will look at the first week after patients' operations and then at 3 months to see if they are in pain, and if so what pain relief they are taking. All adults over the 5-day study period having day-case operations in the UK, with an anaesthetist, will be eligible if they have access to a smartphone. Patients will be recruited on the day of their operation from over 100 NHS hospitals. Some relevant information about the patient's current health, operation and anaesthetic will be recorded from their notes. Afterwards participants will get a text message at days 1, 3 and 7 and the at 3 months. These will connect to a data secure online questionnaire about pain, recovery, and what medications they are taking. A small number of participants with ongoing pain at 3 months will be invited to take part in a structured interview to understand their experience in more depth. This study will provide important information that may be used to improve care of patients having day-case operations and plan future research studies aimed to prevent persistent pain and long-term use of strong painkillers.