• Tina Bobo, Kathleen Fitzgerald, and Kathryn Wdowiarz.
• Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare, 801 South Washington Street, Naperville, Illinois. Electronic address: tina.bobo@eehealth.org.
• Pain Manag Nurs. 2021 Aug 1; 22 (4): 490-495.

AimsThe purpose of the pilot study was to determine if an educational program on opioid safety and disposal during a preoperative joint replacement class would increase the frequency of disposal of unused opioids with a disposal pouch at the end of the episode of care in patients undergoing joint replacement. A secondary aim was to quantify the milligrams of morphine equivalents prescribed, used, disposed, and remaining in joint replacement patients.DesignThe study design is quasi-experimental.MethodsA medication disposal pouch was provided to all study subjects preoperatively. A 2-minute opioid safety and disposal instruction and demonstration of the use of the disposal pouch was performed at a weekly preoperative joint replacement class which was optional for subjects to attend. A nine-question phone survey was then administered to subjects postoperatively.ResultsOne hundred and four patients completed the study survey. Of the subjects who attended the class and had opioids remaining, 74% disposed of their opioids compared with 36% that did not attend the class (p = .005).ConclusionsProvision of a disposal pouch in combination with a live educational program on opioid safety and disposal increased the rate of disposal of unused opioids in a postoperative population.Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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