CARES Trial Welcomes Women’s College Hospital in Toronto as Newest Site

We are delighted to announce that Women’s College Hospital (WCH) in Toronto, Canada has officially joined the CARES Trial (HUM00215416) as our newest recruitment site. WCH becomes the second Canadian site and the seventh overall site to participate in this international study comparing pain management strategies after common outpatient surgeries.

The WCH team is led by Dr. Karim Ladha, Co-Investigator for CARES and the Evelyn Bateman Recipe Chair in Ambulatory Anesthesia and Women’s Health. Under Dr. Ladha’s leadership, the site reached an important milestone by enrolling its first participant in August 2025. This accomplishment reflects the strong commitment of the WCH team to improving recovery and advancing evidence for patients worldwide.

“We’re thrilled to join the CARES Trial at Women’s College Hospital. As a team dedicated to advancing ambulatory anesthesia and women’s health, we see this as an important opportunity to generate evidence that directly informs how we care for patients recovering from surgery. Enrolling our first participant this August is just the beginning, and we look forward to contributing to findings that can improve recovery and reduce harm for patients worldwide.” — Dr. Karim Ladha, Co-Investigator, Women’s College Hospital

About the CARES Study

The Comparing Analgesic Regimen Effectiveness and Safety after Surgery (CARES) Trial is a pragmatic, international, multicenter randomized controlled study designed to address one of the most common questions after outpatient surgery: Which pain medicines work best and safest?

CARES is enrolling adults undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy, inguinal hernia repair, or breast lumpectomy. Participants are randomized to receive either:

• A non-opioid regimen (NSAID + acetaminophen), or

• A low-dose opioid regimen (10 pills of oxycodone 5 mg or equivalent + acetaminophen).

  
  

The study will follow patients for up to 6 months after surgery, assessing pain, side effects, quality of recovery, sleep, mental health, and risk of prolonged opioid use. With a target enrollment of 900 participants across all sites, CARES will generate urgently needed evidence to guide safe, effective, and patient-centered recovery strategies.

Looking Ahead

We congratulate the staff and leadership at Women’s College Hospital on this milestone and thank them for their partnership. Learn more about the trial at www.caresstudy.com.

The CARES Trial is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).