Perception and Attitudes of Medical Students Regarding Postoperative Pain Management

Abstract

Background: Postoperative pain remains a challenging problem, which requires a dynamic approach using a variety of treatment modalities to obtain an optimal outcome with respect to enhancing patient comfort and facilitating the recovery process. Multimodal analgesia signifies an increasingly popular approach to prevent postoperative pain. The approach includes administering a combination of opioid and nonopioid analgesics that act at different sites within the central and peripheral nervous systems in an effort to improve pain control while eliminating opioid-related adverse effects. Materials and Methods: To understand the perception and attitude of 4th year medical students, a structured questionnaire survey was done among six different medical colleges including government (Armed Forces Medical College, Cumilla Medical College and Colonel Malek Medical College, Manikganj) and non-government medical colleges (Army Medical College Bogura, Brahmanbaria Medical College and Chattogram International Medical College) of Bangladesh in October 2019. Total 340 students participated in the study. Result: Among the 340 students, almost 336 (98.2%) students were agreed that postoperative pain management is an essential element of patient care. Only 4 (1.18%) respondents disagreed. On the other hand, regarding its influence on early recovery and reduction of hospital staying, 311 (91.47%) respondents agreed and 29 (8.53%) respondents were found as disagreed. Regarding the issue of opioid commonly induced respiratory depression, 257 (75.59%) respondents thought it is a common adverse event and 81 (23.82%) respondents disagreed. 206 (60.59%) respondents did not agree that opioid always produce addiction or tolerance and 134 (39.71%) respondents disagreed with the same issue. 294 (86) respondents agreed that multimodal analgesia increases patients cost and 46 (14%) disagreed. 249 (74%) students agreed that regional techniques are useful for postoperative pain management and 89 (26%) respondents disagreed. Conclusion: Adequate post-operative pain management knowledge is necessary to reduce post-operative complications.

A systematic review of self-medication practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: implications for pharmacy practice in supporting public health measures

“…Regarding the population, 30 studies were conducted targeting the general population (8, 11, 30, 31, 34-36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 47, 49-51, 54-57, 61, 63, 65, 67, 68, 70, 72, 75, 79, 81, 83), 10 was conducted in students (10,33,39,41,43,53,58,60,71,78), four in dental visit (12,29,45,46), three in healthcare workers (9,80,82), three in individuals visited medical stores and medical store owners (73,76,77), two in older adult (28,48), two in patient (27,66), one in COVID-19 recovered patients (52), one in mothers with schoolage children (32), one in pregnant and breastfeeding women (62), one in pregnant and postpartum women (64), one in adults with a history of taking allopathic medication in the last month (37), one in five doctors with different specialties (interviews) and adults (survey) (59), one in people with symptoms related to anxiety and depression (69), and one in workers from five sectors (health care, air transport, police, road transport, and informal) (74).…”

“…In student populations, the prevalence of self-medication during the pandemic ranged from 20.4 to 83% (10, 39,43,53,58,60,71,78). The prevalence of self-medication among health workers in the included studies had a wide span of 15.9% (82), 36.3% (80), and 60.4% (9), respectively.…”

“…The function of pharmacists as a provider of self-medication information is inconsistent. For two studies (11,57), in nearly half, pharmacists were used as a source of information about selfmedication, while in the other three studies (31,53,73), only a minority of participants did so. Pharmacists can also perform a supporting role following self-medication practices.…”