[Implementation of a standardized perioperative pain management concept in three hospitals of a consortium]

Provision of sufficient perioperative pain therapy is an obligation in the clinical management of patients suffering from pain. The implementation of a standardized pain management concept was planned to be introduced in the clinical routine. The results of three hospitals are shown.

The concept included tools which gave information about legal aspects and basic fundamentals of pain relief, management modules regarding agreements on the implementation of perioperative pain therapy, instruments to measure pain intensity, assigning accountability and documentation modules. Questionnaires were carried out according to Picker.

The project revealed that, according to the Picker questionnaire, about 50% of the patients treated in the hospitals had pain, 30-40% still had intensive pain during the stay in hospital and 90% of the patients received pain relief medication within 10 min of the request. More than 78% of the patients thought the hospital staff did their best to relieve the pain and over 92% found the pain treatment adequate.

It was possible to implement a standardized perioperative pain therapy concept in three hospitals of a consortium. Whether an adequate pain relief can be improved with the help of standard measurements and documentation, could not be evaluated in this study.