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Review
. 2023 Sep;27(9):399-405.
doi: 10.1007/s11916-023-01133-2. Epub 2023 Jun 24.

The Acute Perioperative Pain Service: Impact, Organization, and Future Directions

Ibrahim Al-Saidi  1   2 , Alex Russell  3 , Anis Dizdarevic  3
Affiliations
Review

The Acute Perioperative Pain Service: Impact, Organization, and Future Directions

Ibrahim Al-Saidi et al. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose of review: The Acute Perioperative Pain Service has been established as a relatively new but important concept and service in clinical patient care. Many surgical institutions have dedicated inpatient acute pain services with variable compositions. This review aims to investigate the purpose, clinical and economic implications, and future direction of the Acute Perioperative Pain Service (APPS).

Recent findings: There is growing evidence of the multiple benefits of a dedicated APPS, especially pertaining to patients at higher risk of poorly controlled postoperative pain. Healthcare providers furthermore realize the importance of the perioperative pain management continuity of care, consisting of preoperative pain evaluations and post-discharge follow-up in an outpatient pain management setting, in coordination with the primary teams. The Transitional Pain Service (TPS) has emerged as the next step in this evolution and has been successfully implemented at various medical centers. With the growing number of surgical procedures and the increasing complexity of the patient population, effective management of acute postoperative pain continues to be challenging, despite ongoing advances in clinical care, analgesic modalities, and research. The APPS is becoming the clinical standard of care for managing postoperative pain, and its role continues to expand worldwide.

Keywords: Acute pain; Acute pain service; Chronic pain; Chronic post-surgical pain; Multimodal analgesia; Transitional pain service.

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References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •  Of importance
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    1. Shapiro DM, Hargett MJ, Kopp S, Neal JM, Mariano ER, Liguori G. History and evolution of regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine fellowship training. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2020;45(4):311–4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. • Stamer UM, Liguori GA, Rawal N. Thirty-five years of acute pain services: where do we go from here? Anesth Analg. 2020;131(2):650–6. The authors attempted to explore meaningful outcome variables that define success in acute pain management.

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