Postoperative pain management: a practical review, part 1

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Pain Management
• Health Systems Research

Background:

• Suboptimal postoperative pain treatment persists despite decades of awareness and available analgesics.
• Factors across societal and healthcare levels contribute to inadequate pain management.
• Consequences of acute pain impact clinical, economic, and patient-reported outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the pharmacotherapy and assessment of postoperative pain.
• To highlight the role of pharmacists in improving pain management.
• To discuss strategies for optimizing postoperative pain treatment in general pharmacy practice.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of pharmacotherapy and assessment strategies for postoperative pain.
• Analysis of factors contributing to suboptimal pain management.
• Discussion of the role of opioids and multimodal analgesia.
• Emphasis on clinical skills such as equianalgesic dosage conversion and pain assessment.

Main Results:

• Opioids remain central to postoperative pain treatment.
• Multimodal analgesia offers potential for improved pharmacotherapy.
• Addressing systemic and societal factors is crucial for better pain control.
• Pharmacists have a significant opportunity to enhance pain management.

Conclusions:

• Optimal postoperative pain management is an essential goal for healthcare providers.
• Pharmacists can substantially contribute to achieving better pain outcomes.
• Improving pain treatment can lead to broad improvements in healthcare.
• Key clinical skills for pharmacists include dosage conversion, pain assessment, and functional evaluation.