Postoperative pain management

Postoperative pain can be effectively managed, even in the most complex oncologic procedures. Although the primary agents for treatment of severe pain continue to be opioids, routes of administration and dosing regimen have undergone a dramatic metamorphosis in the past 10 years. The intramuscular injection given every 4 hours has been replaced by patient-controlled analgesia and epidural techniques. Management of ancillary issues that contribute to an increased perception of pain (i.e., stress, depression, anxiety, and inflammation) must be included in an effective multimodal plan. Closer attention to the treatment of pain can obviate the consequences of poorly managed pain, which we are only beginning to understand. In this day of active consumerism in medicine, patients have come to expect improved pain management. Early outcome studies are beginning to confirm the belief that improved pain management translates into between outcomes and earlier dismissals. In the first century BC, Publilius Syrus, a Latin mime, wrote, "There are some remedies worse than the disease." For centuries, pain was inextricably linked to treatment. We may now be approaching a time in the development of medical care when this is no longer true.