Optimizing Outpatient Anesthesia (OSPREy-Outpatient Surgery Pain Relief Enhancement)

This protocol will test the innovative, paradigm‐shifting hypothesis that anesthesia for outpatient surgery with long‐duration opioids (methadone), compared with conventional short‐duration opioids, achieves better analgesia, with similar or diminished side effects, may reduce development of chronic postsurgical pain, improves recovery, and importantly, decreases postoperative opioid consumption and could hence diminish take‐home opioid prescribing and shrink the population reservoir of unused opioids available for diversion and misuse. Two cohorts will be studied, but analyzed separately. 1) Short‐stay, anticipated next‐day discharge surgery (compare short‐duration vs long‐duration opioid), 2) Same‐day discharge surgery (compare short‐duration vs long‐duration opioid).