British journal of clinical pharmacology
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Br J Clin Pharmacol · Jun 1999
Multicenter StudyManagement of postoperative pain in abdominal surgery in Spain. A multicentre drug utilization study.
Postoperative pain is common in hospital-admitted patients. Its management is determined by different therapeutic traditions and by the attitudes of health professionals in each hospital. The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of prescription and administration of analgesic drugs used for postoperative pain after abdominal surgery in Spanish hospitals, to know the prevalence and the severity of postoperative pain, and to determine the extent of variability in the management of postoperative pain among the participating centres. ⋯ In Spain many patients still suffer severe pain after abdominal surgery, and this seems to be due to an inadequate use of analgesics. Wide interhospital variability in the management of postoperative pain and in its prevalence was also recorded.