Patients' night-time pain, analgesic provision and sleep after surgery

One hundred patients were interviewed about their experiences of pain and sleep following abdominal surgery. This information was supplemented by data on analgesic provision which were gathered from medication charts. Pain was the most commonly reported cause of night-time sleep disturbance and analgesics helped more patients to get back to sleep than any other intervention. About half of the patients felt that pain was worse at night than during the day. An examination of patterns of analgesic provision revealed that the number of doses given peaked at two points during the 24-hour cycle. The highest numbers of doses were given between 8 a.m. and 12 noon and 8 p.m. and 12 midnight. Fewer doses were given at night, between midnight and 4 a.m. Analgesic provision at night, therefore, did not appear to be explicitly related to need. The assessment and control of post-operative pain at night requires further attention in order to optimize pain control and promote sleep.