Rev Dor. São Paulo, 2011 jul-set;12(3):265-69 RESUMO JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A dor traz prejuí-zos na recuperação do paciente submetido à cirurgia ortopédica. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever as informações relacionadas à experiência dolorosa de pacientes em pós-operatório de cirurgias ortopédicas na sala de recuperação pós-anestésica (SRPA) que podem contribuir para a assistência de Enfermagem. CONTEÚDO: Trata-se de estudo com abordagem qualitativa, as fontes para a coleta das informações foram as bases de dados da plataforma da BIREME, os objetos foram artigos que atenderam aos seguintes critérios de inclusão previamente estabelecidos, a coleta ocorreu mediante busca on-line, a abordagem das informações foi realizada pelo método da Hermenêutica Dialética. SUMMARY BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Pain is noxious for the recovery of patients submitted to orthopedic surgery. This study aimed at describing information on the pain experience of patients in the postoperative period of orthopedic surgeries in the post-anesthetic recovery unit (PACU), which may be useful for the Nursing assistance. CONTENTS: This is a qualitative study using BIREME's platform databases to collect information. The aims were articles meeting the following and previously established inclusion criteria and data were collected by online search. Information was approached by the Dialectic Hermeneutics method. After this approach, the following categories were surveyed: "Regional anesthesia decreases postoperative pain in orthopedic surgeries", "Therapy for postoperative pain of orthopedic surgeries", "Evaluation helps pain management in the postoperative period of orthopedic surgeries". CONCLUSION: Postoperative pain control is important for orthopedic patients and regional anesthesia may provide preventive analgesia for the immediate postoperative period. The nursing team shall establish the nursing diagnosis and interventions shall be preceded by the evaluation of intensity, quality and factors interfering with pain felt by orthopedic patients.