Clinical aspects of acute post-operative pain management & its assessment

Abstract

Management of postoperative pain relieve suffering and leads to earlier mobilization, shortened hospital stay, reduced hospital costs, and increased patient satisfaction. An effective postoperative management is not a standardized regime rather is tailored to the needs of the individual patient, taking into account medical, psychological, and physical condition; age; level of fear or anxiety; surgical procedure; personal preference; and response to therapeutic agents given. The major goal in the management of postoperative pain is to minimize the dose of medications to lessen side effects & provide adequate analgesia. Postoperative pain is still under managed due to obstacles in implementation of Acute Pain Services due to insufficient education, fear of complications associated with available analgesic drugs, poor pain assessment and inadequate staff. This review reflects the clinical aspects of postoperative pain & its assessment & management with an emphasis on research for new analgesic molecules & delivery system.

Keywords: Post-operative pain management; assessment; clinical aspects.

Fig. 1

Process of Nociception

Fig. 2

Process of Central Sensitization

Fig. 3

Normal Pathways of Pain

Fig. 4

Acute pain relief treatment chart

Fig. 5

Visual Analogue Scale

Fig. 6

Numerical Pain Scale