Pain control after major surgery

To assess the adequacy and efficacy of postoperative pain management.

A prospective clinical study.

The Georgetown and New Amsterdam Public Hospitals, Guyana.

Two hundred consecutive patients undergoing major abdominal surgery.

Presence or absence of significant postoperative pain during the first 24 hours.

All the patients experienced pain postoperatively. Sixty one per cent of patients considered their pain severe, 30% rated it moderate and only 9% mild. Reasons for this deficiency of care are partly attributable to the patients themselves and also the health care staff.

Postoperative pain is poorly managed in our general hospitals.