Prospective Study to Evaluate the Clinical Utility of Perioperative Pharmacogenomic Testing

Overview

In the perioperative realm, studies have demonstrated an association of genotype with efficacy of medications applicable to the surgical setting. A clinical association exists between the genotype of various genes and with opioid efficacy and toxicity - specifically for drugs such as oxycodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl, and tramadol. More studies are needed to assess the effects of personalized dosing of analgesics during the perioperative process for various surgical procedures. The application of Pharmacogenomic testing (PGx) to perioperative medicine is novel, has much potential for growth and may potentially improve outcomes. However, successful implementation of a system to evaluate PGx and integrate results into clinical decision-making is challenging and has not been adequately assessed. The investigators propose to conduct PGx testing for patients undergoing surgery, evaluate its clinical utility, and assess outcomes. The investigators hypothesize that PGx testing may ultimately lead to a decrease in adverse events and improved outcomes in the perioperative period.

Potential subjects will participate in screening with a minimum of 4 days prior to their planned surgery. The study involves obtaining mouth swab samples for genetic testing and employing standardized measures for PGx testing of subjects preoperatively. Study staff will pre-screen potential subjects scheduled at the preoperative center or on surgeons' operative schedules. The study team member will ask the treating clinician involved with the care of a patient for permission to speak to the patient. The physician or a member of the research staff will describe the study to potentially eligible patients and a study investigator will obtain consent. After meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria, subjects who agree to participate in the study will complete study questionnaires and provide a swab sample for PGx analysis. Trained members of the research staff will obtain a buccal swab sample from each subject who has given informed consent to participate in study procedures. The buccal swab will be packaged and shipped to an outside laboratory for processing and the conduct of the PGx testing. The results of the PGx testing will be provided in a standardized report and sent back to the research staff conducting the study. Typically, the turn-around for shipping the sample and obtaining the results will be 4 days. The results will be available to the anesthesiologist prior to the patient's surgery. Prior to the initiation of the scheduled surgery, the anesthesiologist will be asked to complete a questionnaire about the clinical utility of PGx testing for that subject. In the perioperative group of subjects for whom clinicians find clinical utility for PGx testing (experimental group), outcomes will be compared to the remaining subjects (control group) for whom PGx testing was felt not to have any clinical utility. After surgery, there will be two assessment periods. Clinical outcomes and the quality of the subject's recovery from surgery will be assessed postoperatively at 24 hours +/-4 hours after surgery by directly interviewing each study subject and reviewing the electronic medical record. Additional assessments of subjects will be conducted by review of the electronic medical record at 30 days +/- 3 days postoperatively.