prevention of postoperative pain
Last reviewed 01/2018
It is better to prevent the onset of postoperative pain by prophylactic measures:
- infiltration of wound with local anaesthetic:
- usually carried out by surgeon at time of operation
- example of drug used is 0.5% bupivacaine, 2mg/kg in any four hour period
- regional anaesthesia:
- epidural anaesthesia is most common
- other examples, include intercostal nerve blocks, brachial plexus and femoral nerve block
- regular administration of a standard dose of intravenous analgesic, e.g. opioids. May be given in boluses or by continuous pump infusion with or without the option for self-administration of boluses by the patient.
More details about these techniques are given in the section on analgesia.