Over 2.7 million operations are performed per year in Australia. Approximately 1 in 20 perioperative
medication administrations include a medication error or an adverse drug event and over 30 per cent suffer from significant postoperative complications which can lead to patient dissatisfaction, increased hospital stay, delayed return to work and ultimately increased patient and societal costs.
Pharmacogenomics is the study of how genetic variations affect individual drug responses, and it is an exciting emerging area which has the potential to personalise medicine, with improved patient safety, recovery and comfort after surgery. This is supported by a recent study where the use of pharmacogenomic data to guide medications for postoperative pain relief following major abdominal surgery halved opioid requirements, improved pain control and reduced pain-related side effects.
This study aims to determine if it will be possible to perform a future larger prospective trial to investigate whether pharmacogenomic testing and tailoring a patient’s anaesthetic to their individual genetic profile can improve the quality of their recovery from anaesthetic, improve postoperative pain management and decrease adverse drug reactions.
Dr Michelle Gerstman was awarded an ANZCA scholarship to support her higher degree research program. This feasibility study is part of this program and has received MRFF funding.
Dr Michelle Gerstman, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre & University of Melbourne, Melbourne
Professor Bernhard Riedel, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre & University of Melbourne, Melbourne
Professor Andrew Somogyi, University of Adelaide, South Australia
Professor Carl Kirkpatrick, Monash University, Melbourne
Professor Colin Royse, University of Melbourne.
The project was awarded $A20,000 funding through the ANZCA research grants program for 2023.