Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Dec;10(2):909-925.
doi: 10.1007/s40122-021-00286-5. Epub 2021 Jul 17.

The Routes of Administration for Acute Postoperative Pain Medication

Filomena Puntillo  1   2 , Mariateresa Giglio  3 , Giustino Varrassi  4
Affiliations
Review

The Routes of Administration for Acute Postoperative Pain Medication

Filomena Puntillo et al. Pain Ther. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Effective treatment of postoperative acute pain, together with early mobilization and nutrition, is one of the perioperative strategies advocated to improve surgical outcome and reduce the costs of hospitalization. Moreover, adequate pain control reduces perioperative morbidity related to surgical stress and can also prevent the incidence of chronic postoperative pain syndromes, whose treatment is still a challenge. The choice of the most appropriate analgesics depends not only on the drug class, but also on the most suitable route of administration, the best dosage for that route, and unique limitations and contraindications for every patient. In the present review, a comprehensive analysis was performed on the different routes of administration of acute postoperative pain medications and their indications and limitations, focusing on recent evidence and international recommendations.

Keywords: Anesthetics; Drugs; NSAIDs; Opioids; Paracetamol; Postoperative pain; Route.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Raja SN, Carr DB, Cohen M, Finnerup NB, Flor H, Gibson S, Keefe FJ, Mogil JS, Ringkamp M, Sluka KA, Song XJ, Stevens B, Sullivan MD, Tutelman PR, Ushida T, Vader K. The revised International Association for the Study of Pain definition of pain: concepts, challenges, and compromises. Pain. 2020;161(9):1976–1982. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chou R, Gordon DB, de Leon-Casasola OA, et al. Guidelines on the management of postoperative pain management of postoperative pain: a clinical practice guideline from the American Pain Society, the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Committee on Regional Anesthesia, Executive Committee, and Administrative Council. J Pain. 2016;17(2):131–157. - PubMed
    1. Misiołek H, Zajączkowska R, Daszkiewicz A, et al. Consensus statement of the Section of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy of the Polish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, the Polish Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy, the Polish Association for the Study of Pain and the National Consultant in Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy. Anaesthesiol Intensive Ther. 2018;50(3):173–199. - PubMed
    1. Aubrun F, Nouette-Gaulain K, Fletcher D, et al. Revision of expert panel’s guidelines on postoperative pain management. Anaesth Crit Care Pain Med. 2019;38(4):405–411. - PubMed
    1. Alam A, Gomes T, Zheng H, Mamdani MM, Juurlink DN, Bell CM. Long-term analgesic use after low-risk surgery: a retrospective cohort study. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(5):425–430. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources