The Efficacy of Magnesium Sulfate in Perioperative Multimodal Analgesia

Patients frequently report inadequate pain management following surgical procedures. Physicians must often prescribe analgesics, notably opioids, as a means of providing pain relief. Due to the addictive nature of this class of medications, improper post-surgical pain management propagates the United States opioid crisis. The administration of multimodal analgesia is a strategy implemented to decrease long-term outpatient prescription opioid use. Magnesium sulfate has recently attracted interest for its potential use as an adjunct in multimodal analgesia in addition to its other diverse uses in medicine. This review aims to highlight the most recent data validating the use of magnesium sulfate in perioperative multimodal analgesia.

A narrative review was conducted using PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE(R) Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations. Articles that examined the effects of intravenous magnesium sulfate on perioperative pain and/or recovery from 1946 to present were considered. 15 articles met the inclusion criteria and discussed the use of magnesium sulfate as an adjunct in multimodal analgesia across the following surgical specialties: cardiac surgery, general surgery, gynecologic surgery, orthopedic surgery, urologic surgery, neurosurgery, and otolaryngology surgery. The results of the cited studies indicate that magnesium sulfate is a well-tolerated multimodal analgesic agent that reduces postoperative pain, reduces opioid consumption, and increases patient satisfaction.