Better surgery and pain care for people with opioid use disorder
Official title: Improving Perioperative Care for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder
Funded at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor · NIH-11194319 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will develop and try care pathways to help adults with opioid use disorder manage pain and reduce opioid-related harms around the time of surgery.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $760,892 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DA058640-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11194319 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults (21 years and older) with opioid use disorder who are scheduled for elective or non-elective surgery at participating Michigan hospitals are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without opioid use disorder, those under 21, or patients having surgery outside the participating hospital network are unlikely to directly benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If you have opioid use disorder and are having surgery, researchers will ask about your pain and opioid use before and after the operation and collect that information from many hospitals across Michigan. They will use those patient reports and clinical data to identify patterns in pain control, opioid use, and overdose risk after surgery. The team will design a clinical care pathway to coordinate pain management and overdose prevention tailored to people with opioid use disorder. That care pathway will then be implemented across a large, diverse hospital network and outcomes will be tracked to see if it improves recovery and safety.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could lead to clearer, safer post-surgical pain plans and fewer opioid-related harms for people with opioid use disorder.
How similar studies have gone: Some smaller studies and guideline efforts have looked at perioperative pain or opioid-sparing strategies, but few large prospective programs have focused specifically on perioperative care for people with opioid use disorder, making this networked approach relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bicket, Mark — University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
- Study coordinator: Bicket, Mark
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Improving perioperative care for adults with opioid use disorder
A study to improve pain management and reduce opioid-related harms for adults with opioid use disorder who are having surgery.
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Understanding how stopping medications for opioid use disorder after surgery affects recovery.
This study looks at what happens when people with opioid use disorder stop their medication after having surgery, and it aims to find out why this happens and how it affects their recovery, so we can help doctors better support these patients during and after their operations.
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Improving care for patients with opioid use disorder during surgery
This study is looking to improve how we manage pain for people with opioid use disorder who are having surgery, by understanding their specific challenges and finding better ways to help them feel comfortable after their procedures.
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Systems analysis to improve opioid use disorder care after jail release (SAIA-MOUD)
A program to help people with opioid use disorder get better, faster, and safer care after they leave jail.
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Precise epigenetic drugs for opioid addiction
A tiny, targeted drug approach is being developed to help people with opioid use disorder by rewriting the epigenetic signals in the brain to reduce cravings and relapse risk.
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Increasing Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder for Unhoused Montanans
This project helps unhoused people in Montana get life-saving medicines for opioid use disorder through clinics connected to syringe service programs, a nurse-led MOUD model, and peer support.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.