Managing a chronic pain patient in the perioperative period

The chronic pain patient with and without chronic opioid medication is at risk for under- and overtreatment perioperatively. Careful planning of the perioperative period by the anesthesiologist, the pain service and the surgeon is crucial. Epidural analgesia requires reduction of preoperative opioid doses to a maximum of 50% to avoid withdrawal as well as continuous postanesthesia care unit-monitoring for the first 24 hours. Brief cognitive behavioral interventions pre- and postoperatively contribute to successful pain management. The perioperative period may be used to re-evaluate the patient's opioid requirements. A follow-up by an experienced pain management service should be available after discharge of the chronic pain patient. Individualized assessment by a pain management team is necessary for this increasing group of patients. This report is adapted from paineurope 2013; Issue 2, ©Haymarket Medical Publications Ltd., and is presented with permission. paineurope is provided as a service to pain management by Mundipharma International, LTD. and is distributed free of charge to healthcare professionals in Europe. Archival issues can be accessed via the website: http://www.paineurope.com at which European health professionals can register online to receive copies of the quarterly publication.