Abstract
Mentor: Scott Vincent Program: Orthopaedic Surgery Type: Original Research Background: The pharmacologic interaction between opioids and antidepressants has been a recent topic of interest since it affects the quality of pain control experienced by patients with mental illness. It would thus benefit orthopaedic surgery residents to have a basic understanding of these pharmacologic interactions and their impact. The purpose of this study was to identify gaps in knowledge among orthopaedic surgery residents regarding this topic, and whether a brief intervention in the form of a lecture could fill that gap. Methods: A 10-question survey was sent to the orthopaedic surgery residents at a single institution. Three days later, a 15-minute lecture regarding the pharmacology of opioids and antidepressants was given by a psychiatry fellow to the orthopaedic surgery residents. Three days after the lecture, another survey was given to the residents assessing their comfort level with the covered topics using a 5 tier Likert scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” The perceived usefulness of the lecture and change from pre and post intervention responses were recorded and analyzed. Results: All questions assessing the comfort level and perceived knowledge level of the residents on the topics covered saw a significant increase in mean Likert ratings from pre to post intervention. Conclusion: This study identified knowledge of opioid medication interactions as a potential educational gap in orthopedic surgery residency. Brief interventions such as a collaborative short lecture may help bring a baseline level of knowledge about this subject to the orthopaedic resident.