Follow-Up Interventions in Trauma Patients to Optimize Pain Management or Opioid use and Their Associated Costs: A Scoping Review Protocol

Introduction: Patients with traumatic injuries often experience substantial acute pain, which can lead to chronic pain and persistent opioid use after hospital discharge. However, little is known about interventions to support trauma patients to prevent such health issues and their costs. Objectives: To describe the nature and extent of the evidence on follow-up interventions for pain management or optimal opioid use and their economic evaluation in patients with traumatic injuries after hospital discharge. Methods: The 6-stage framework for scoping reviews proposed by Arksey and O’Malley and Levac et al., enhanced by the recommendations from the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, will be used. CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, ProQuest databases, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Web of Science will be searched. Two reviewers will independently screen, select and extract the data. An interdisciplinary advisory committee and 2 patient partners will be consulted throughout the review process to ensure its relevance. Discussion and Research Spin-offs: This scoping review will provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge on follow-up interventions for adult patients with traumatic injuries to reduce their pain and opioid use after hospital discharge, while taking economic measures into account. The results will inform research and, ultimately, contribute to the sustainable implementation of interventions to prevent chronic pain and opioid use disorder in these patients.