Postoperative Pain Management

Abstract

Postoperative pain management is an important aspect of caring for a surgical patient as inadequate pain control can be associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Failure to effectively control postoperative pain is often due to poor communication and poorly coordinated care between the care teams, poor communication with the patient, insufficient education, unrealistic expectations, fear of complications from the pain regimen, inaccurate pain assessment, and limited effective pain treatment modalities. An effective pain management can therefore lead to improved patient comfort, satisfaction, earlier ambulation, faster recovery time, decreased hospital stay and cost of care, and reduced postoperative complications.