To see if watching a pain management instructional film lowers opiate use following a cesarean birth. Researchers conducted a randomized, controlled experiment on women aged 18 and above who had a cesarean birth at a tertiary care center. Eligible women were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive usual discharge pain medication instructions plus an instructional film on pain management or to receive only usual discharge pain medication instructions. At the time of release, all of the ladies were given the same opioid prescription: twenty 5-mg oxycodone pills. Participants were contacted seven and fourteen days following delivery to assess the number of oxycodone pills taken, the usage of adjunct medications, pain ratings, and overall satisfaction with pain treatment. The number of oxycodone pills utilized from discharge to postpartum day 14 was the main outcome. A sample size of 23 was planned for each group so order to detect a 25% difference in the mean number of oxycodone pills consumed across groups, ranging from 20 to 15. From July through December of this year, 61 women were screened and 48 were enrolled—24 in each group. When compared to women who got standard pain medication recommendations, those who saw the instructional film took substantially fewer opioid pills from discharge through postpartum day 14. Adjunctive medicine use, pain ratings, and pain management satisfaction did not differ substantially across groups.Viewing an instructional film on pain management reduced post-discharge opioid usage in women who had a cesarean birth.
