Knowledge About Postoperative Pain and Its Management in Surgical Patients

Research has shown that more than 50% of patients have insufficient postoperative pain relief despite the use of multiple pain management modalities. Insufficient pain relief leads to several pathophysiological effects. One of the barriers to optimal pain relief is patient's lack of knowledge regarding the options available for pain management and their potential side effects. In this survey, we evaluated surgical patients' knowledge about postoperative pain and its management in patients undergoing major upper abdominal surgeries at a tertiary care hospital.

This was a cross-sectional survey. A total of 155 patients (18-60 years of age) scheduled to undergo elective major upper abdominal surgery were included after ethical approval and informed consent. Preoperatively, patients were interviewed through a questionnaire regarding knowledge about postoperative pain and its management.

The average age of the patients was 42.97 ± 13.05 years. Excellent and good knowledge were observed in 11.61% and 21.94% patients, respectively, whereas fair and poor knowledge were seen in 42.58% and 23.87%, respectively. Inadequate knowledge was more marked regarding analgesic side effects and addiction risk. Education level, history of surgery, and adequate information provision about pain management plan by surgeons preoperatively were significantly associated with a higher level of knowledge about pain and its management (p-value 0.0005, 0.002, and 0.0005, respectively).

A considerable proportion of patients have inadequate knowledge about their postoperative pain and its management, particularly in areas of side effects and addiction risk.