Postoperative Pain Communication Skills for Older Adults

Abstract

This study tested the effect of a preoperative pain communication intervention on older adults' ability to obtain pain relief after a total knee arthroplasty. A posttest-only experimental design was used to compare older adults randomly assigned to (a) view a pain management and pain communication film, (b) view the pain management film only, or (c) receive standard care only. Initial method adjustments decreased potential error in the study. Adjustments included testing only total knee arthroplasty patients receiving standard physical therapy and omitting unreliable measures from the analyses. Recruitment of the standard care group was halted when differences emerged between the remaining groups. Older adults in the communication group reported significantly less sensory pain on postoperative Day 1 than older adults in the pain management only group. Teaching older adults both pain communication skills and pain management information before surgery might result in greater pain relief during the early postoperative period.

Improving patients’ experience and outcome of total joint replacement: the RESTORE programme

“…After screening and detailed evaluation, 48 articles describing 52 interventions met the inclusion criteria and study characteristics are summarised in Table 75. Studies reported interventions in patients before hip (n = 22), knee (n = 21), 500,503,[509][510][511][512][513][514][515][516][517][518][519][520][521][522][523][524][525] or either hip or knee replacement (n = 9). [526][527][528][529][530][531][532][533][534] Interventions focused on optimising pre-surgical health (n = 36), preparation for recovery in hospital (n = 27) and improving long-term outcomes (n = 18).…”

“…Extra information provided by Bitterli and colleagues, 488 Ackland and colleagues, 494 Hoogeboom and colleagues, 497 McDonald and Molony, 518 McDonald colleagues, 533 Núñez and colleagues 521 and Aoki and colleagues. …”

A procedure‐specific systematic review and consensus recommendations for postoperative analgesia following total knee arthroplasty

“…One study of pre-operative pain management and a pain management film vs a pain management film only vs standard care only showed no significant differences between groups [91].…”

An Investigation of the Effects of Preoperative Interdisciplinary Patient Education on Understanding Postoperative Expectations Following a Total Joint Arthroplasty

“…The study revealed that patients were not reluctant to request pain medication (Stalnikowics, Mahamid, Kaspi, & Brezis, 2005), but some needed encouragement to report their pain (Brown, 2004;Capuzzo et al, 2005;Niemi-Murola et al, 2007). Educational interventions aimed at supporting patients' communication efforts might contribute to significant pain relief (McDonald & Molony, 2004).…”