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Recommended Pain Management After Surgery Not Yet Standard Practice

Despite recommendations from medical and anesthesiologist societies, the multimodal analgesia approach for pain control is being used less than 25 percent of the time prior to surgery, a new study shows.

Multimodal analgesia is a combination of pain medication and therapeutic measures used to improve pain control for patients.

Previous studies have shown that when multimodal analgesia is used before surgery, it can help reduce the amount of pain for patients after surgery. And pain control is a big issue among many patients electing to have surgery.

To assess how extensively U.S. medical providers, primarily in anesthesiology, have used a multimodal approach, researchers issued a 15-question survey.

This survey was completed by 83 providers, including 41 anesthesiologists across a variety of care settings.

Despite recommendations for a multimodal approach, the study’s findings showed it is not yet the standard practice:

• Opioids are the most common pain treatment used, despite potential side effects like nausea, vomiting, itching, constipation and sedation.
• Non-opioids, like acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, remain largely underused despite having fewer side effects than opioids.
• 75 percent of respondents only use two agents, typically a narcotic and non-narcotic to treat pain despite evidence that a combination of three or more treatments can significantly improve pain control after surgery.

“The results show that medical providers must continue to educate themselves in current pain management trends and take a more aggressive approach toward the use of a multimodal pain regimen,” said lead study author Dr. Jaime L. Baratta.

Baratta said it is also important that patients be aware of their options for pain management during the surgical process.

For more on medical safety issues, see the library of articles by Daytona Beach medical malpractice attorney.

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