Post-cesarean section analgesia

Cesarean section patients have compelling reasons to achieve optimal postoperative pain relief, because they are expected to recover expeditiously and to care for their newborns within a few hours following surgery. Consequently, it is necessary that pain relief is safe and effective, that it does not interfere with the mother's ability to care for her infant, and that it results in no adverse neonatal effects in breast-feeding women. However, although research in this field is increasing, there is no 'gold standard' for post-caesarean pain management. Most methods rely on opioids, supplemented with non-opioid analgesics, nerve blocks or other adjunctive techniques. The aim of this manuscript is to evaluate and compare through literature review commonly used opioid- and non-opioid-based methods, when incorporated into a multimodal approach to post-caesarean pain management. Areas of promising research are also discussed.